ma 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

CARROLL  ALCOTT 

PRESENTED  BY 

CARROLL  ALCOTT  MEMORIAL 
LIBRARY  FUND  COMMITTEE 


Sunrise    Stories 

A  Glance  at  the  Literature 
of  Japan 


By 

Roger  Riordan 

and 

Tozo  Takayanagi 


Charles  Scribner's  Sons 
New  York  j*    j*    1896 


Copyright,  1896,   by 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons 


DEDICATED  TO 
HIS  EXCELLENCY  S.  KURINO 

His  Imperial  Japanese  Majesty's  Envoy  Extraordinary 

and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the 

United  States  of  America 

by  the  Authors 


Preface 

WHAT  is  best  in  the  literature  of  Japan  does  not 
bear  translation.  It  is  a  literature  of  form  without 
much  substance,  and,  when  pressed  into  the  mould  of 
a  foreign  language,  its  peculiar  beauties  are  apt  to 
disappear  like  the  opal  tints  from  a  squeezed  jelly- 
fish. Handled  as  carefully  as  may  be,  the  results  are 
much  more  likely  to  excite  curiosity  than  to  gratify  it, 
and  to  send  the  reader  back  to  those  ballads  in  blue 
porcelain,  those  sonnets  in  chased  silver,  those  poems 
in  old  gold  lacquer  that  first  drew  the  attention  of 
westerners  to  the  Land  of  the  Sunrise.  Art,  whose 
words  are  things,  whose  symbols  types,  whose  gram- 
mar beauty,  is  the  universal  language  that  needs  no 
interpreter. 

But  even  the  slightest  acquaintance  with  the  litera- 
ture of  Japan  is  likely  to  add  much  to  one's  enjoy- 
ment of  her  art.  One  cannot  miss  at  least  learning 
something  of  its  subjects,  its  moods,  its  history,  its 
relations  with  the  life  out  of  which  it  has  sprung. 
And  a  sort  of  perfume  of  refinement  clings  to  every 
idea  that  has  once  been  given  form  in  classical  Japan- 


Preface 

ese.  Nor  are  more  important  interests  entirely  want- 
ing. Historical  facts,  though  not  so  stubborn  as  most 
other  facts,  and  though  included  here  because  they  are 
the  basis  of  many  fictions,  cannot  properly  be  made 
light  of.  Myths  are  now  a  department  of  science ; 
the  religions  of  the  Far  East  are  no  longer  spoken  of 
as  merely  foolish  and  degrading  superstitions;  and 
the  songs  of  Nara,  the  romances  of  old  Yedo,  add  to 
our  knowledge  of,  and  pleasure  in,  humanity. 

Still,  the  reader  must  not  expect  to  find  here  much 
solid  instruction.  The  true  inwardness  of  Shintd, 
the  nature  of  Nirvana,  the  import  of  the  irruption  of 
Japan  into  the  charmed  circle  of  Aryan  interests,  such 
problems  as  these  must  be  left  to  others  better  able  to 
cope  with  them.  We  have  to  deal  more  with  fancy 
than  with  fact,  with  the  brilliant  and  amusing  surface, 
all  foam  and  glitter,  rather  than  with  what  may  lie 
below,  whether  weeds  or  pearls. 

M.  de  Rosny's  "  Cours  de  Langue  Japonaise  "  is, 
so  far  as  we  are  aware,  the  only  work  in  any  European 
language  that  aims  to  give  a  general  view  of  Japanese 
literature;  but  it  is  intended  for  students  of  Japanese, 
and,  even  in  France,  is  read  by  few  others.  It  is 
arranged  with  little  regard  to  historical  development. 
Within  our  limited  field  we  have  tried  to  follow  the 
course  of  past  events  and  to  illustrate  the  history 
of  Japan  from  its  literature,  and  the  literature  from 


Preface 

the  circumstances  of  the  times  in  which  it  was  pro- 
duced. 

Without  including  the  present,  four  great  periods 
may  be  distinguished  in  the  history  of  the  country, 
each  of  which  has  had  its  special  literary  expression. 
The  first  period  may  be  said  to  have  ended  at  the 
beginning  of  the  eighth  century  A.D.,  when  the  wan- 
dering court  of  the  Empress  Jito  was  fixed  at  Nara. 
The  second,  the  period  of  the  early  civilization  of 
Nara  and  Kioto,  lasted  until  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
century.  From  the  thirteenth  to  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury was  the  period  of  the  civil  wars,  closed  by  the 
battle  of  Sekigahara,  in  1600.  Lastly,  the  period  of 
the  Tokugawa  Shogunate  may  be  considered  to  have 
begun  at  that  date,  and  to  have  ended  at  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Mikado's  government  in  1867. 

The  Japanese  possess  an  uncommonly  interesting 
account  of  their  early  legends  and  beliefs  in  the 
"Kojiki,"  or  "Book  of  Old  Traditions,"  which 
was  reduced  to  writing  at  Nara  in  712.  There  is  an 
excellent  translation  by  Professor  Basil  Hall  Cham- 
berlain, which,  however,  has  as  yet  been  published 
only  as  a  supplement  to  Vol.  X.  of  the  ' '  Transactions 
of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Japan."  The  "  Nihongi," 
or  "Book  of  Chronicles  of  Japan,"  though  written 
only  a  few  years  later  and  dealing  mainly  with  the 
same  traditions,  already  shows  the  influence  of  ad- 


Preface 

vancing  civilization  in  the  softening  or  omission  of 
barbaric  traits  given  without  reserve  in  the  older  work. 
Of  this  a  French  translation,  by  M.  de  Rosny,  has 
been  published,  together  with  the  original  text,  in 
two  volumes.  A  translation  into  English  by  Mr. 
Aston  is  promised. 

The  compilation  of  these  two  books  of  traditions 
was  followed  by  that  of  the  most  celebrated  collec- 
tions of  Japanese  lyric  poetry,  by  the  study  of  the 
Buddhist  scriptures  and  the  Chinese  classics,  and,  from 
the  ninth  century,  by  an  abundant  prose  literature. 
Unhappily,  there  are  few  translations  from  which 
European  or  American  readers  can  gain  even  a  slight 
idea  of  this  literature.  The  best  we  owe  to  the 
scholars  already  named.  Mr.  Chamberlain's  "  Clas- 
sical Poetry  of  the  Japanese,"  M.  de  Rosny's  "  An- 
thologie  Japonaise,"  Mr.  Suyematsu  Kenchio's  par- 
tial translation  of  the  "  Genji  Monogatari  "  (Romance 
of  Genji),  Lieutenant  Dickens's  of  the  "Taketori 
Monogatari,"  and  Dr.  August  Pfizmaier's  of  the  "Is6 
Monogatari  "  are  the  only  works  worthy  the  atten- 
tion of  the  general  reader. 

The  succeeding  period,  marked  by  the  adoption  of 
many  Chinese  words  into  the  language,  by  the  rise  of 
a  new  Buddhist  literature,  largely  didactic  and  con- 
troversial, and  by  many  attempts  to  apply  Chinese 
ethics  to  Japanese  social  needs,  is  yet  more  poorly 


Preface 

represented  in  translation.  But  the  popular  literature 
of  the  Tokugawa  regime  has  fared  somewhat  better. 
A  few  novels,  not  all  of  the  first  class,  have  been 
translated  into  various  European  languages  by  Dr. 
Pfizmaier,  F.  Turretini,  Mr.  Greey,  Mr.  Dickens, 
and  others.  The  remarkable  histories  and  biographies 
written  during  this  period  have  been  often  drawn 
upon  by  European  writers,  and  some  notion  of  the 
work  of  the  great  Shinto  apologist,  Motoori,  may  be 
derived  from  Mr.  Ernest  Satow's  interesting  essay  on 
the  "  Revival  of  Pure  Shinto."  *  Since  the  Restora- 
tion Japan  has  been  too  much  occupied  with  neces- 
sary reforms  to  produce  much  original  literary  work. 

We  have  made  use  not  only  of  the  books  and  arti- 
cles just  mentioned,  but  of  others,  for  which  due  credit 
is  given  elsewhere.  But  we  have  constantly  endeavored 
to  bring  out  the  spirit  of  the  originals,  to  the  extent 
in  many  cases  of  making  entirely  new  versions, 
and  we  have  avoided  making  drafts  upon  books  with 
which  the  general  reader  may  be  supposed  to  be  fa- 
miliar. 

Our  thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  H.  Shugio,  Mr.  L. 
Wertheimber,  and  Mr.  Van  Westrom  for  valuable  as- 
sistance and  advice. 

'Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Japan,  Vol.  III. 


Contents 


PAGE 


Preface, v 

I.  The  Dance — Introductory,  .        .       .    x  v   / 

//.  The  Myth  of  the  Mirror,  .        ...  5 

///.  The  Children  of  the  Sun,     .       .       .  12 

IV.  Buddhism, 25 

V.  Your  Choice  of  Miracles,     .        .       .  34 

VI.  Songs  of  Two  Cities— Nara,    .        .        .  47 

Vll  Songs  of  Two  Cities — Kioto,       .       .  69 

Vlll  The  Voyage  Home  from   Tosa.     Mono- 

gatari, 81 

IX.  A  Rainy  Night  Entertainment,    .        .        94 

X.  Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji,       .  106 

XI.  Horrific  Exploits  of  Yorimitsu,  .       .      123 


Contents 

XII  Fortunes  of  the  Gen,     . 

XIII  Kamo  No  Chomei's  "Story  of  My  Hut,"  151 

X1Y.  The  Fighting  Monks  and  their  Strange 

Diversions,      .  .       .  163 

XY.  The  Golden  Calabashes,    .  .181 

XYl  The  Piping  Times  of  the  Tokugawa,      .  188 

XYll  The  Drama,     .  •      202 

.  XYlll  The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances,  .  221 

XIX.  Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest,    .      244 

XX.  Conclusion, 268 


f 


Sunrise  Stories 


Sunrise  Stories 


THE  DANCE— INTRODUCTORY 

THE  Japanese,  if  no  other  people,  have  danced 
their  way  into  literature  and  art.  The  ancient 
dance  masks  preserved  at  Nara,  beautifully  carved 
and  painted  and  inlaid,  as  are  at  this  day  those  of 
Pacific  tribes  barbarous  in  all  things  else,  represent 
the  beginnings  of  painting  and  sculpture;  and  the 
oldest  poetry  of  the  race  seems  to  have  been  that  of 
motion.  "When  words,  and  sighs,  and  exclama- 
tions fail  to  show  forth  the  depth  and  strength  of  our 
emotions,"  says  Confucius,  "we  break  out  at  last, 
and  all  at  once,  in  music,  poetry,  and  dancing." 
And  dancing  was  the  principal  means  of  expression. 
The  chanted  words  and  dress  in  character  only  ex- 
plained the  meaning  of  the  dance. 

A  less  cheerful  origin  for  the  plastic  arts  has  been 
suggested  in  the  ancient  manufacture  of  images  to 


Sunrise  Stories 

take  the  place  of  the  human  victims  which  in  primi- 
tive Japan  were  buried  alive  about  the  graves  of  their 
lords,  until  the  Emperor  Suinin  (B.C.  29)  put  an  end 
to  this  barbarous  custom.  Numerous  stone  and  terra- 
cotta figures  have  been  recovered  of  much  earlier 
date  than  the  oldest  masks  at  Nara;  but,  as  the 
masks  are  of  wood,  it  is  easy  to  account  for  the  fact 
that  none  more  ancient  than  the  seventh  century  re- 
main, and  there  is  no  question  that  some  of  the 
dances  in ,  which  they  were  used  are  older  by  many 
centuries  than  the  date  of  Suinin' s  merciful  edict. 

Song  was  the  natural  accompaniment  of  the  dance ; 
but,  when  it  was  thought  worthy  of  being  handed 
down  to  posterity,  it  was  usually  necessary  to  recount 
in  plain  prose  the  exciting  occurrence  that  had  given 
rise  to  it.  Hence  the  prose  narrative,  which,  in 
Japan,  long  preserved  its  original  form  of  a  running 
commentary  on  the  songs  embedded  in  it.  In  read- 
ing many  of  the  chapters  of  the  "  Kojiki,"  the  ballad 
poetry  of  Nara,  the  "Ise  Monogatari,"  one  con- 
stantly finds  that  the  story  is  about  a  song,  that 
the  song  was  made  to  dance  to,  that  the  dance 
was  the  first,  unpremeditated  expression  in  art  of 
the  feeling  awakened  by  some  unwonted  occurrence. 
The  entire  literature  of  Japan  teems  with  allusions  to 
the  legend  which  is  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter — 
the  legend  of  the  dance  that  celebrated  the  yearly 


The  Dance — Introductory 

return  of  the  sun.  From  other  dances  have  been 
evolved  the  lyric  dramas  of  the  Middle  Ages.  And, 
even  in  recent  works,  the  reader  is  frequently  re- 
minded, not  so  much  of  ordinary  human  actions,  as  of 
those  actions  intensified  and  reduced  to  rule  by  the 
actor's  art,  which  is  but  a  form  of  dancing. 

The  Miko,  the  "darling  of  the  gods,"  still  at 
this  day  performs  the  sacred  mirror  dance  before 
many  a  village  shrine ;  half  a  thousand  dancers  may 
still  be  seen  circling  with  waving  arms  in  the  dance 
of  Thanksgiving  under  the  harvest  moon  ;  and,  on 
the  festival  of  the  dead,  white-robed  girls,  issuing 
from  the  cemetery,  perform  the  dance  of  the  Ghosts. 
At  the  temple  of  the  Green  Lotus,  in  Kioto,  Mr.  John 
La  Farge  witnessed  the  Butterfly  dance,  welcoming 
the  summer,  and  the  pilgrim  bands  dance  the  Ondo 
by  the  roadside,  every  spring,  on  their  way  to  the 
shrine  of  the  sun-goddess  in  Ise.  But  many  of  the 
ancient  dances  are  falling  into  disfavor;  many  are 
quite  forgotten,  like  the  Genroku  Odori,  danced 
about  that  symbol  of  royalty,  the  umbrella,  and  the 
dance  to  the  creators,  Izanami  and  Izanagi,  on  the 
double  summit  of  Mount  Tsukuba,  which  Mushimaro, 
in  the  eighth  century,  celebrated  in  the  following  ode 
as  a  quaint  survival  of  old-time  communism : 


Sunrise  Stories 


THE   DANCE  OF   TSUKUBA. 

On  the  crest  of  Tsukuba 

Eagles  build  their  eyries  ; 
On  the  crest  of  Tsukuba 

Pilgrims  dance  in  couples. 
"  Here  is  neither  yours  nor  mine," 

Thus  they  sing  in  chorus, 
"  But  the  gods  dispose  of  all 

In  any  way  that  suits  them. 
I'm  decreed  to  win  your  maid, 

You  to  woo  my  mistress  ; 
And,  surely  aught  that  is,  is  right, 

Here,  on  the  sill  of  heaven." 


n 

THE  MYTH  OF  THE  MIRROR 

IN  some  of  the  more  out-of-the-way  parts  of  Eu- 
rope where  the  sun  still  dances  on  Easter  morning, 
in  honor  of  the  Resurrection,  children  are  awakened 
early  to  see  it  glide  across  the  floor  of  their  chamber, 
skip  from  wall  to  wall,  and  leap  from  skirting-board 
to  ceiling.  The  miracle  is  wrought  with  a  piece  of 
looking-glass,  by  means  of  which  a  ray  is  thrown 
through  the  window.  Though,  now,  a  Christian 
signification  is  given  to  it,  the  custom  is  doubtless 
much  older  than  Christianity ;  for  our  pagan  ances- 
tors were  wont  to  celebrate  the  return  of  the  sun 
with  dancing ;  and,  reflected  from  bits  of  shell  or 
polished  metal,  they  made  the  sun  dance  with  them. 

Such  was,  most  likely,  the  origin  of  Uzume's 
dance,  the  story  told  to  account  for  which  is  one  of 
the  most  transparent  of  sun  myths.  There  are  pas- 
sages in  the  Japanese,  as  in  other  mythologies,  which 
might  be  cited  in  support  of  the  theory  of  Mr.  An- 
drew Lang  and  Bishop  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  that 
myths  are  "  inventions  of  wild  and  bestial  folk;  " 
5 


Sunrise  Stories 

but  there  are  also  imaginings  as  graceful  as  the 
poetic  fancies  of  the  Greeks,  and  of  these  is  the 
Story  of  the  Mirror. 

The  earliest  gods  (so  the  old  traditions  say),  who 
had  sprung  up  like  reeds  out  of  the  shallow  water 
when  heaven  was  separated  from  earth,  had  "  hidden 
away  their  bodies"  and  died,  or  become  extra- 
mundane  spirits,  when  there  appeared  a  divine 
couple  whose  mission  it  was  to  create  the  habitable 
world.*  Standing  upon  the  "Floating  Bridge  of 
Heaven  "  (the  rainbow),  Izanami  brought  up  from  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  with  his  coral-pointed  spear,  the 
materials  with  which  he  formed  the  first  dry  land. 
Descending  with  his  consort,  Izanagi,  they  set  out, 
right  and  left,  to  make  the  tour  of  the  island  ;  and 
when  they  met,  the  goddess,  speaking  first,  cried, 
"  How  delightful  it  is  to  encounter  a  beauteous 
male!  "  But  at  this  Izanami  took  offence,  for  he 
thought  it  unbecoming  that  the  female  should  be 
the  first  to  speak.  So  they  made  the  circuit  of  the 
isle  a  second  time,  and,  when  they  met  again,  Iza- 

*  The  only  one  to  be  regretted  of  these  vanished  deities  is  the 
microscopic  Sukuna-bikona-no-mikoto,  the  lord  of  scarecrows.  In 
his  anxiety  to  see  how  the  first  rice  ears  were  ripening,  this  little 
divinity  climbed  one  of  the  stalks.  But  a  passing  breeze  bent  it 
for  an  instant,  and,  straightening  up  again,  it  shot  him  off  into 
unknown  space.  Still,  he  is  supposed  to  take  an  interest  in  the 
growing  grain,  and  in  some  occult  way  to  protect  it. 
6 


The  Myth  of  the  Mirror 

nami  said,  "  How  pleasant  it  is  to  meet  a  lovely 
woman  ! ' ' 

The  precedence  of  the  male  thus  happily  estab- 
lished, and  an  example  set  for  the  future  race  of  men, 
the  divine  pair  set  about  to  create  other  islands,  and 
gods  to  people  them. 

After  this  Izanagi  died,  and  her  husband  followed 
her  to  Hades ;  but,  dismayed  by  the  horrors  of  the 
place,  was  obliged  to  return  without  her.  While 
making  his  ablutions  at  a  stream  on  the  island  of 
Awaji,  gods  were  born  from  each  article  of  his  cloth- 
ing, and  from  each  part  of  his  body.  Among  them, 
the  sun-goddess,  "The  Shining  in  Heaven,"  and 
the  moon-god,  "  The  August  Possessor  of  the  Night," 
were  born  of  his  eyes,  and  from  the  breath  of  his 
nostrils  was  produced  the  "  Impetuous  Male  Divin- 
ity," to  whom  was  given  the  rule  over  wind,  and 
cloud,  and  sea.  In  the  myths  as  they  have  reached 
us,  this  impetuous  Susanoo  is  confounded  with  the 
moon-god,  and  has  become  quite  a  complex  personal- 
ity, fond  of  darkness  and  storms,  violent  and  ungov- 
ernable, but  not  without  some  redeeming  traits  in  his 
character.  Disliking  the  manner  of  the  production 
of  the  wild  fruits  and  game  which  the  earth-goddess 
set  before  him,  he  slew  her,  whereupon,  from  her 
wounded  body,  sprang  rice,  and  barley,  and  cattle, 
and  the  mulberry-tree.  For  desiring  to  visit  the 
7 


Sunrise  Stories 

under-world  of  abominations  he  was  expelled  from 
the  creator's  presence.  Then,  in  his  role  as  god  of 
storm-cloud  and  eclipse,  he  quarrelled  with  the  sun- 
goddess,  Amaterasu,  and  frightened  her  by  throwing 
the  skin  of  a  piebald  horse  over  the  bright  loom  at 
which  she  sat  weaving.  For  this  last  misdeed  he  was 
banished  to  Izumo,  where  we  shall  find  him  later  in 
more  becoming  employment. 

But,  meanwhile,  his  pranks  had  so  alarmed  Ama- 
terasu that  she  fled  for  refuge  to  a  great  cavern  in 
the  mountains,  and,  shutting  the  door  of  rock  upon 
herself,  left  the  world  in  darkness.  Straightway 
space  was  filled  with  the  buzzing  of  wicked  gods  plan- 
ning mischief ;  and  the  better -disposed  children  of  Iza- 
nami,  assembled  in  the  dry,  sandy  bed  of  the  Stream 
of  Heaven  (the  Milky  Way),  consulted  together  as 
to  how  best  they  might  induce  the  goddess  to  return. 

In  a  similar  quandary,  when  it  was  a  question  how 
to  bring  Hephaistos  back  to  heaven,  the  Greek  gods, 
it  may  be  remembered,  first  tried  force  of  arms,  and 
then  the  power  of  wine.  But  the  gods  of  Japan  were 
dealing  with  a  woman,  and  the  plan  they  hit  upon 
was  adapted  to  the  case.  They  planted  hemp  and 
paper  mulberry,  and  made  from  their  fibres  and  bark 
beautiful  inner  and  outer  garments  for  the  goddess. 
They  polished  gems,  and  pierced  them  for  necklaces 
and  ear-rings.  In  brief,  all  the  arts  of  adornment 


The  Myth  of  the  Mirror 

were  invented  on  this  occasion.  So,  it  appears,  was 
the  art  of  architecture,  for  the  carpenter-god  raised  a 
splendid  palace  for  Amaterasu.  But  last,  and  most 
important  of  all,  che  heavenly  blacksmith,  Amat- 
sumori,  hammered  out  from  meteoric  iron  a  large 
and  shining  mirror.  Neither  heaven  nor  earth  had 
seen  the  like. 

So  provided,  they  had  recourse  to  divination, 
burning  the  shin-bone  of  a  deer  in  a  fire  of  cherry 
wood.  Needless  to  say,  the  bone  cracked  in  the 
luckiest  manner  possible,  and,  confident  of  success, 
the  assembled  deities  set  out  for  Amaterasu's  cavern. 
Plucking  up  a  tree  by  the  roots,  they  hung  upon  its 
branches  the  mirror,  the  jewels,  and  the  coarse  and 
fine  raiment.  Then  the  god  Strong-arms  was  posted 
close  to  the  rock-door.  The  other  gods,  ranged 
round  about,  started  a  glorious  bonfire  and  struck  up 
a  pleasing  melody.  The  first  harp,  of  six  bows 
placed  side  by  side  with  their  strings  uppermost,  and 
the  first  flute,  of  bamboo,  were  sounded,  and,  to  the 
music  of  these  primitive  instruments  the  merry  god- 
dess, Uzume,  springing  on  to  a  hollow  platform 
which  resounded  under  her  feet,  began  the  sacred 
mirror  dance. 

As  she  danced  she  improvised  an  august  song, 
each  word  of  which  is  a  numeral,  as  in  certain 
counting-verses  repeated  by  children  in  their  games. 
9 


Sunrise  Stories 

But  the  words  have  also  another  meaning  which  may 
be  translated  thus : 

The  rift  behold,  ye  gods, 
Where,  to  your  delight, 
Shall  majesty  appear ; 
So  excellent  my  charms. 

It  happened,  moreover,  that,  as  Uzume"  danced, 
her  dress,  instead  of  the  rock-door,  came  open,  giv- 
ing still  another  meaning  to  the  song ;  so  that  the 
eight  hundred  thousand  gods  laughed  mightily,  till 
heaven  and  earth  rang  with  their  laughter. 

Their  tremendous  merriment  excited  the  curiosity 
of  Amaterasu.  Cautiously  opening  the  door  a  little, 
she  asked  why  Uzume  danced,  and  why  the  gods 
rejoiced  in  such  unseemly  fashion,  when,  owing  to 
her  retirement,  the  high  plain  of  heaven  and  reed- 
growing  Japan  were  plunged  in  darkness.  Uzum6 
answered  that  it  was  because  they  had  found  an  hon- 
orable divinity  more  glorious  than  herself.  At  the 
word  she  held  up  the  mirror,  and  the  Shining  One, 
looking  in  it,  was  dazzled  by  the  reflection  of  her 
own  brightness.  Astonished,  she  stepped  forth  from 
the  cavern.  Strong-arms  immediately  improved  the 
opportunity,  and  drew  her  forward ;  and,  then,  a 
straw  rope  was  quickly  passed  behind  her,  and  the 
gods  made  it  taboo,  saying  "  You  must  not  go  back 


The  Myth  of  the  Mirror 

behind  this  !  ' '  They  then  led  her  to  her  palace ; 
and  from  that  time  to  this,  the  Sun  has  never  stayed 
in  the  great  cave  of  winter,  but,  when  she  sees  the 
straw  rope,  turns  back  betimes  to  give  light  to  reed- 
growing  Japan,  and  all  the  world  besides. 


ii 


Ill 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  SUN 

THE  people  who  thus  accounted  for  the  invention 
of  the  arts  by  the  necessity  of  pleasing  womankind 
dwelt  anciently  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  large 
island  of  Kiushiu,  which,  itself,  is  the  southernmost  of 
the  main  group  of  the  Japanese  archipelago.  They 
worshipped  Amaterasu,  not  only  as  a  nature  Goddess, 
but  in  a  special  way  as  their  ancestress.*  For,  after 
she  had  again  begun  to  shine  in  heaven,  the  earth  was 
still  given  over  to  violent  and  evil-minded  deities ; 
and  her  son,  Ninigi,  born  to  her  by  the  intervention 
of  her  necklace,  was  made  mortal,  and  was  sent  down 
to  Japan  to  found  a  race  which  should  forever  govern 
that  favored  country  justly.  He  took  with  him  his 
mother's  famous  mirror,  as  evidence  of  the  godship 
in  the  family. 

The  neighbors  with  whom  his  descendants  had  to 

*  Rather  than  think  of  themselves  as  other  than  descendants  of 
the  Sun-goddess,  modern  rationalizing  Japanese  speak  of  her  as 
a  mortal  queen  deified  after  death.  They  can  consistently  take 
this  view,  as  no  strict  distinction  appears  to  have  ever  been  made 
in  the  national  belief  between  nature  gods  and  deified  souls. 
1 2 


The  Children  of  the  Sun 

deal  in  Kiushiu  could  boast  of  no  such  glorious  origin, 
but  regarded  the  wild  mountain  gods,  or  (anticipating 
Darwin)  bears  and  other  animals,  as  their  first  par- 
ents. The  Sun-folk,  therefore,  undertook  to  rule 
over  them ;  but  their  right  to  do  so  was  sometimes 
contested.  Pit-dwellers,  bear-worshippers,  bird-men, 
earth-spiders,  and  gods  with  tails  fought  with  and 
were  conquered  by  them.  At  length  they  overran 
all  of  Kiushiu,  and,  taking  ship  under  their  first  Mi- 
kado, the  third  in  descent  from  Ninigi,  they  sailed  to 
the  nearest  shore  of  the  main  island. 

Before  following  them  on  this  expedition,  it  is  in 
order  to  relate  the  strange  adventures  of  Prince  Fire- 
Shine  and  Prince  Fire-Subside,  the  first-  and  the  last- 
born  sons  of  Ninigi.  Fire-Shine  was  a  fisherman  ; 
Fire-Subside  was  a  hunter.  One  day  they  exchanged 
implements  and  occupations,  and  the  hunter  was  so 
unfortunate  as  to  break  the  line  that  he  had  received 
from  his  brother,  and  to  lose  the  hook.  Fire-Shine 
refused  to  be  comforted  by  the  promise  of  a  thousand 
new  fish-hooks  for  the  one  that  had  been  lost ;  and 
his  brother  was  bewailing  his  unreasonable  conduct 
by  the  seashore,  when  there  came  to  him  a  deity  who 
advised  him  to  seek  the  Sea-god's  palace,  built  of  fish- 
scales,  to  climb  into  a  cassia-tree  that  grew  by  the 
well  before  the  gate,  and  there  await  what  might 
happen. 

13 


Sunrise  Stories 

So  Fire-Subside  built  him  a  boat,  and  sailed  away 
to  the  "  Nether  Distant  Country  "  in  which  the  Sea- 
god  dwelt,  and,  having  arrived  there,  did  as  he  had 
been  instructed.  In  a  little  while  a  princess,  coming 
out  to  draw  water  from  the  well,  saw  the  stranger  in 
the  cassia-tree,  and  offered  him  a  drink  from  her 
pitcher.  The  prince,  without  drinking,  put  a  gem 
from  his  necklace  into  his  mouth  and  let  it  fall  into 
the  vessel ;  and  the  gift  was  so  well  received  that  he 
was  invited  to  enter  the  palace.  There,  in  quick 
order,  the  Sea-god  made  a  feast  for  him,  and  gave 
him  the  princess  in  marriage. 

For  three  years  Fire-Subside  was  so  happy  that  he 
never  once  thought  of  the  unlucky  fish-hook,  or  of 
his  home  in  distant  Kiushiu.  But  at  the  end  he 
heaved  a  sigh,  and  the  unwonted  occurrence  threw 
everybody  in  that  happy  land  into  a  state  of  conster- 
nation. His  new  relations,  gathering  about  him, 
anxiously  inquired  the  cause  of  his  sadness,  and, 
learning  of  the  lost  fish-hook,  hastily  summoned  all 
the  fishes  of  the  ocean.  They  came,  thronging  the 
sea,  and,  in  some  manner  not  related,  the  hook  was 
found  sticking  in  the  Tai's  throat,  and  was  restored 
to  the  prince,  who  was  permitted  to  depart  for  his 
own  country  in  order  to  return  it  to  his  brother. 
His  wise  father-in-law  presented  him,  moreover,  with 
two  jewels  endowed  with  properties  that  he  foresaw 
14 


The  Children  of  the  Sun 

would  be  useful.  One  of  them  caused  the  tide  to 
flow,  and  the  other  made  it  to  ebb. 

Fire-Shine's  immoderate  anger  was  not  appeased 
by  the  return  of  his  hook.  He  sought  to  kill  his 
younger  brother,  who  at  once  produced  the  flood-tide 
jewel,  and  made  the  sea  to  flow  in  upon  the  would-be 
assassin.  Fire-Shine's  light  was  in  imminent  danger 
of  being  quenched  forever ;  but,  on  his  promising  to 
make  amends  for  his  unfraternal  conduct,  and  sur- 
rendering his  claim  to  the  inheritance,  the  younger 
brother  drew  the  ebb-tide  jewel  from  his  bosom,  and 
the  waters  retreated  as  fast  as  they  had  risen.  Thus 
it  came  to  pass  in  course  of  time  that  Fire-Subside 
succeeded  his  father,  Ninigi,  and,  after  a  reign  of  five 
hundred  years,  was  himself  succeeded  by  his  son, 
born  of  the  sea-princess;  whose  son,  again,  it  was 
that  led  the  tribe  on  their  venturesome  expedition. 

On  the  western  coast  of  the  main  island,  over 
against  Korea,  dwelt  another  powerful  people,  with 
whom  the  Children  of  the  Sun  were  obliged  to  reckon 
soon  after  their  landing,  near  where  now  stands,  deep 
in  the  water  at  high  tide,  the  great  torii  of  Itsukus- 
hima.  A  high  range  of  mountains  cuts  the  land  in 
two  ;  and,  owing  to  this  fortunate  circumstance,  they 
had  time  to  grow  acquainted  without  much  fighting. 
A  pact  was  arranged  by  which  the  over-lordship  was 
assured  to  the  new-comers.  In  return,  they  left  the 
15 


Sunrise  Stories 

original  proprietors  in  peaceful  possession  of  their 
land,  and  built  a  temple  at  Kitsuki  "with  stout 
pillars  and  high  rafters,  reaching  up  to  heaven," 
to  their  god  Okuninushi,  the  Master  of  the  Great 
Land. 

These  western  folk  had  their  own  tales  of  the 
nether  distant  country,  and  their  own  notions  of  the 
gods,  which  are  now,  because  of  their  not  having 
fought  to  a  finish,  inextricably  entangled  with  the 
myths  of  the  conquerors.  The  Master  of  the  Great 
Land  is  to  modern  and  less  reverent  worshippers 
known  as  Daikoku,  or  "Big-Bag,"  and  his  son, 
Kotoshironushinokami,  is  more  widely  celebrated  as 
Ebisu,  god  of  fishermen  and  market-places.  Both 
are  great  favorites  with  those  droll  fellows,  the  artists. 
They  correspond,  it  will  be  seen,  to  the  Kiushiii 
princes  of  land  and  sea,  the  hunter  and  the  fisherman. 
Ebisu,  like  Fire-Shine,  is  extremely  prone  to  anger. 
For  the  smallest  matter  he  is  like  to  raise  a  storm  ;  so 
that  the  good  people  of  Mionoseki,  where  is  his  chief 
shrine,  are  anxious  that  he  should  spend  as  much 
time  as  possible  in  sleep ;  and  for  that  reason,  as 
their  song  tells,  cocks  are  not  permitted  to  exist 
there.  The  place  boasts  its  eastern  exposure,  not 
common  on  the  west  coast,  its  wedded  pine-trees, 
and  its  lack  of  poultry  as  among 


16 


The  Children  of  the  Sun 


THE   WONDERS   OF   MIONOSEKI. 

Seki  is  a  charming  town, 

The  morning  sun  it  faces, 
It  clambers  up  and  tumbles  down 

In  unexpected  places. 

And  Seki's  pines  that,  four  a-row, 

(An  odd  one  fell)  in  couples  grow, 

Sound  drowsily,  when  zephyrs  blow 

Softly,  oh  !  so  softly. 

Seki  is  the  sailors'  town, 

Its  god  doth  rule  the  weather  ; 
And  if  you  would  not  swamp  and  drown, 

Bring  there  nor  fowl  nor  feather. 
In  Seki's  streets  no  cock  may  crow  ; 
The  breed  was  banished  long  ago  ; 
So  that  the  god  may  sleep,  you  know, 
Softly,  oh  !  so  softly. 

Still,  the  ungrateful  god  sometimes  blows  big  guns  off 
Mionoseki,  and  the  coast  is  a  terrible  one  to  approach 
in  rough  weather. 

Myth-hunters  also  trace  some  connection  between 
Inari,  Lord  of  Rice  and  of  Foxes  (a  very  popular  god 
in  the  west  country),  Daikoku,  and  the  August  Spirit 
of  Food,  whom  Susanoo  slew,  as  is  related  in  the 
last  chapter.  But  Inari  is  said  to  be  only  a  sort  of 
Reineke  Fuclis,  a  clever,  rice-stealing  fox,  first  hu- 
manized and  then  deified ;  and  the  conception  of  the 
17 


Sunrise  Stories 

Deity  of  the  Great  Land,  with  his  enormous  meal- 
bag  and  his  pile  of  rice  bales,  corresponds  more 
closely  to  that  of  the  Kiushiu  Earth-goddess.  Both 
are  personifications  of  the  earth  as  provider  of  food 
for  man  and  beast ;  and  the  entire  group  of  stories 
may  signify  simply  the  conquest  of  the  coast  peoples 
by  the  more  settled  agricultural  tribes.  That  the 
story  of  Amaterasu  and  her  violent  brother  was 
known  in  the  west  before  the  coming  of  the  Sun 
clans  appeai-s  from  a  legend,  which  bears  evident 
marks  of  western  origin. 

Susanoo,  it  will  be  remembered,  when  he  was  ex- 
pelled from  heaven  for  his  misconduct,  retired  to  this 
land  of  Iztuno,  which  was  then  a  wilderness.  One 
day,  while  rambling  in  the  mountains,  he  saw  float- 
ing down  the  river  Hi  a  pair  of  chop-sticks ;  from 
which  he  concluded  that  there  must  be  people  living 
farther  up  the  stream.  He  traced  it,  therefore,  to  its 
source,  where  he  met  an  old  man  and  an  old  woman, 
with  a  young  girl  for  the  third,  and  all  three  of  them 
weeping  bitterly.  Susanoo,  who  was  not  all  a  bad 
lot, was  much  affected,  and  drew  from  the  old  man  that 
he  was  an  earth-god,  Ashi-nazuchi  by  name,  and  that 
the  old  woman  was  his  wife,  and  the  young  girl  their 
daughter.  They  wept  because  of  their  eight  daugh- 
ters, she  was  the  last,  and  now  she  was  about  to  be 
taken  from  them.  A  huge,  eight-headed  centipede 

18 


The  Children  of  the  Sun 

had  come  up  yearly  from  the  sea  and  devoured  one, 
and  the  time  was  at  hand  that  he  should  come  for  the 
youngest,  who  was  called  the  Princess  Inada.  A 
godly  indignation  was  kindled  in  Susanoo's  breast 
on  hearing  this  story,  and  he  asked  what  manner  of 
creature  this  monstrous  centipede  might  be.  "  It  has 
only  one  body,"  replied  the  Earth-god ;  "  but  it  has 
eight  heads,  and  eight  tails,  and  forests  grow  upon 
its  back,  and  it  trails  its  length  across  eight  valleys 
and  eight  mountains."  Thereupon  Susanoo,  coming 
to  the  point,  valiantly  asked  the  old  pair  for  their 
daughter  if  he  should  succeed  in  delivering  them 
from  the  monster.  When  they  learned  that  their 
champion  was  the  younger  brother  of  the  Sun,  the 
princess  was  at  once  surrendered  to  him;  and  he 
promptly  put  her  out  of  harm's  way  and  prevented 
her  being  a  hindrance  to  him  in  his  movements  by 
cleverly  transforming  her  into  a  wooden  comb,  which 
he  stuck  in  his  top-knot. 

With  the  help  of  the  old  couple,    Susanoo   now 

brewed  a  quantity  of  sake,*  distilling  it  eight  times  ; 

and  with  it  they  filled  eight  great  jars,  and  set  them 

before  a  gate  in  an  eightfold  fence  that  they  put  up 

about  the  top  of  the  mountain.     They  had  not  waited 

long  before  the  monster  appeared  and  at  once  began 

drinking  out  of  all  the  eight  jars  of  sake.     Soon  it 

*  Rice  spirits. 

19 


Sunrise  Stories 

was  overcome  with  the  liquor.  The  eight  heads  lay 
down  to  sleep  on  this  side  and  on  that  of  the  moun- 
tain ;  and  Susanoo,  striding  from  head  to  head,  with 
his  sharp  sword  neatly  severed  them  from  the  body. 
All  that  day,  the  legend  tells,  a  torrent  of  blood 
rolled  down  the  valley  of  the  river  Hi.  The  victor 
erected  a  palace  for  himself  and  his  wife.  Eight 
clouds  arose  about  it,  and  he  composed  an  ode  on  the 
matter,  as  follows : 

Eight  clouds  arise, 
The  eightfold  fence  of  Izumo  ; 
They  make  an  eightfold  screen 
For  the  lovers  to  retire  within. 

The  shrine  is  maintained  to  this  day  at  Yayegaki. 
At  Hinomisaki  is  also  a  shrine  to  Susanoo,  and  a 
splendid  temple  to  Amaterasu.  But  the  most  re- 
nowned god  of  Izumo  is  the  Deity  of  the  Great  Land, 
who  still  at  Kitsuki,  once  a  year,  mounts  his  bronze 
horse  and  rides  through  every  street  in  the  city,  the 
inhabitants  keeping  carefully  indoors  on  pain  of  be- 
ing transformed  into  dogs.*  His  progress  over,  he 
enters  the  house  of  the  High  Pontiff,  his  descendant, 
and  remains  there  for  the  night ;  while  in  a  solitary 
place  on  the  seashore  another  high  functionary  per- 
forms a  mysterious  rite,  the  nature  of  which  he  must 

*  See  Hearn's  Glimpses  of  Unfamiliar  Japan. 
20 


The  Children  of  the  Sun 

not  reveal  while  he  lives,  even  to  his  successor.  The 
son  (for  the  office  is  hereditary)  is  instructed  in  his 
duties  by  his  father's  ghost. 

Leaving  their  new  allies  to  shape  all  those  pleasant 
stories  as  they  would,  the  Children  of  the  Sun  once 
more  set  sail  northward,  through  the  green  islands  of 
the  Inland  Sea.  They  landed  near  Osaka,  where 
they  encountered  yet  other  tribes  so  far  advanced  in 
civilization  as  to  be  able  to  offer  a  stubborn  resist- 
ance. Attributing  the  check  which  they  received  to 
their  having  sailed  against  the  sun  from  their  last 
station,  they  put  to  sea,  and  again  approached  their 
landing-place  from  the  east.  This  time  they  were 
unopposed.  One  of  the  native  gods,  in  the  form  of 
a  raven  (probably  the  Sun-god  in  a  new  shape,  sug- 
gested by  the  evening  flight  of  the  birds  to  their  nests), 
guided  them  through  the  mountain  passes  into  the  se- 
cluded province  of  Yamato,  where,  after  more  fight- 
ing and  miraculous  victories,  they  established  them- 
selves, and  made  the  district  the  centre  of  their  em- 
pire. Professor  Chamberlain  recognizes  three  cycles 
of  legends  in  the  "  Kojiki,"  or  Book  of  Old  Traditions, 
those  of  Yamato,  Izumo,  and  Kiushiu  ;  but  all  belong 
to  the  same  mythological  stock ;  going  to  show  that, 
at  the  time  of  the  conquest,  the  southern  half  of 
Japan  was  occupied  by  related  tribes,  which  had 
probably  crossed  over  from  Korea.  At  Kashiwabara, 


Sunrise  Stories 

in  Yamato,  the  leader  of  the  Sun-folk,  Kan  I  ware 
Hiko  -  no  -  Mikoto,  better  known  by  his  canonical 
name  of  Jimmu  Tenno,  ascended  the  throne  as  the 
first  Emperor  of  Japan,  February  19,  B.C.  660,  ac- 
cording to  a  modern  computation  from  the  data 
given  in  the  chronicles. 

Gradually  the  empire  was  extended  north  and 
east.  A  temple  was  founded  at  Is6  to  the  Sun-god- 
dess. An  expedition  was  sent  out  which  conquered 
part  of  Korea.  Little  by  little  the  elements  of  a 
higher  civilization  were  introduced  from  the  main- 
land and  were  spread  by  force  or  by  persuasion 
among  the  subject  tribes.  We  read  of  many  rebel- 
lions, dynastic  quarrels,  and  local  wars  in  which  the 
wicked  aboriginal  gods  opposed  the  descendants  of 
Ninigi  and  mimicked  the  state  and  circumstance  of 
the  Mikado.  But  the  stories  of  the  "  Kojiki  "  and  the 
"Nihongi"  become  more  commonplace  and  more 
credible  as  we  read.  There  are  no  more  palaces  of  fish- 
scales,  and  fewer  miraculous  births — no  more  coming 
and  going  by  the  Floating  Bridge  of  Heaven ;  and, 
with  the  advent  of  Buddhist  missionaries  some  time 
in  the  sixth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  truth  may 
be  said  to  have  gained  the  upper  hand  of  fiction. 
But,  let  us  hasten  to  add  that  in  Japan  she  has 
never,  until  our  -own  times,  made  a  tyrannical  use  of 
her  advantage. 

22 


IV 

BUDDHISM 

FOR  a  thousand  years  from  the  founding  of  the 
Empire  myths  and  legends  still  fill  the  pages  of  the 
"  Kojiki  "  and  "  Nihongi."  By  that  time  the  con- 
querors had  settled  down  among  their  tributary  villages 
and  become  a  nation.  The  empire  was  still  being  ex- 
tended by  wars  against  the  savages  of  the  north  and 
east,  and,  for  a  time,  included  part  of  Korea;  but  a 
few  of  the  Children  of  the  Sun  sufficed  to  lead  the 
levies  that  put  down  rebellions  and  kept  the  peace 
along  the  frontier.  The  Court  shifted  about  from 
place  to  place  in  Yamato  and  the  neighboring 
provinces,  as  convenience  or  caprice  dictated  ;  but 
these  periodical  Sittings,  indicating  ingrained'  habits 
of  camp  life,  offered  no  satisfactory  outlet  for  the 
restless  spirit  which  they  betrayed.  Many  felt  ill  at 
ease  in  a  life  of  turbulent  idleness  and  gross  or  child- 
ish pleasures,  no  longer  seasoned  by  toil  and  danger. 
The  view  of  intoxicated  maids  of  honor  hopping 
about  like  sparrows  in  the  palace-yard  no  longer  ap- 
peared to  them  a  picture  of  unalloyed  felicity.  The 
23 


Sunrise  Stories 

gods  of  the  August  Kitchen,  God  Pot,  and  Goddess 
Kettle,  though  duly  invoked  and  guarded  against  de- 
monic interference  by  plentiful  sprinklings  of  conse- 
crated salt  and  dried  peas,  could  not  preserve  even 
the  divine  Mikado  from  the  saddening  effects  of  an 
inactive  mode  of  life.  A  consciousness  of  evil  too 
profound  to  be  washed  away  in  the  river,  or  to  be 
banished  by  fumigations,  grew  upon  the  people  of  the 
Court,  and  they  fell  a  prey  to  that  melancholy  that 
comes  upon  communities  as  well  as  upon  individuals 
when  old  ideals  are  found  wanting  and  the  time  is 
ripe  for  rapid  change  and  development. 

To  these  troubled  consciences  certain  Buddhist 
monks  from  Korea  brought  the  remedy  that  Gautama 
had  proclaimed  in  India  when  the  Sun-folk  were  still 
at  the  outset  of  their  work  of  conquest  and  explora- 
tion. The  new  teachers  began  by  emphatically  de- 
claring that  ground  for  discontent  is  to  be  found  in 
the  very  nature  of  existence.  Life,  at  the  best,  they 
said,  is  change,  and  change  implies  imperfection,  and 
consciousness  of  imperfection,  suffering.  But  life  is 
transitory  and  unreal.  What  is  real  is  the  One  Di- 
vine Essence,  calm  and  immovable,  existing  in  sun 
and  earth,  conscious  in  man  and  beast,  aspiring  in 
the  saint,  enjoying  an  immortality  of  bliss  in  Buddha. 
But  to  Buddhahood  all  creatures  may  attain,  when,  in 
passing  through  the  bitter  waters  of  experience,  they 
24 


Buddhism 

have  freed  themselves  from  the  illusions  of  sense  and 
the  desire  of  selfish  contentment.  Gautama  had 
shown  the  way,  through  compassion,  renunciation, 
and  abstraction.  To  make  the  path  easier  for  other 
creatures  is  to  shorten  it  for  one's  self.  The  virtuous 
man  at  each  reincarnation  advances  on  the  road  to 
perfection,  and  may  attain,  while  yet  mortal,  to  a 
contempt  of  earthly  things,  which  is  a  foretaste  of  the 
divine  calm  of  Nirvana. 

The  doctrine  had  been  profoundly  modified  in 
China  and  Korea  before  it  had  been  introduced  in 
Japan.  The  primitive  scheme  of  society  common  to 
the  three  countries,  which  proposed  as  supreme  ends 
peace,  prosperity,  and  good  fame,  and  as  means, 
submission  to  the  wise  government  of  divinely  ap- 
pointed rulers,  had  almost  completely  failed  in  China, 
partly  because  authority  was  weak  and  unable  to  be- 
stow the  blessings  that  were  expected  of  it,  partly 
because  certain  districts  were  already  overpopulated. 
The  Chinese  not  only  looked  to  Buddhism  for  spir- 
itual consolation,  but  tried  to  draw  from  it  a  practi- 
cal remedy  for  their  temporal  evils.  The  result  was 
to  throw  the  idealistic  philosophy  of  the  Hindoos 
into  the  background,  and  to  bring  forward  problems 
of  practical  morality.  At  the  same  time  fantastic 
legends  were  incorporated  into  the  lives  of  the  Buddha 
and  his  saints ;  images  were  substituted  for  ideas,  and 
25 


Sunrise  Stories 

the  creed  was  brought  down  to  the  level  of  the  com- 
mon understanding.  Nothing  in  this  teaching  wr.s 
inconsistent  with  what  was  regarded  as  essential  in  the 
old  Shinto  *  belief  of  Japan.  Along  with  its  elaborate 
system  of  morals,  it  provided  powerful  motives  for 
well-doing  in  its  doctrines  of  the  brotherhood  of 
creatures  and  progression  toward  an  end  which  might 
be  variously  conceived,  but  always  in  an  elevated  way. 
For,  if  the  mass  of  the  people  could  raise  their 
thoughts  no  higher  than  to  the  legendary  golden 
paradise  in  the  west,  that,  itself,  was  a  conception  far 
above  their  ordinary  wishes  and  aspirations.  The 
more  active  found  a  new  field  for  their  energies  in 
building  monasteries  and  temples,  adorning  them 
with  statues  and  other  works  of  art,  and  in  protecting 
their  inmates.  The  more  intellectual  found  occupa- 
tion in  the  study  of  the  sacred  books,  and  in  the 
metaphysical  speculations  to  which  it  led.  With  the 
monks  came  artificers  of  all  sorts,  merchants,  and 
scholars.  Chinese  polite  literature  and  rationalistic 
philosophy  were  introduced,  manners  grew  refined, 
and  the  gross  beliefs  and  practices  of  earlier  days 
were  abandoned. 

One  figure  stands  out  prominently  among  those 
concerned  in  the  great  change — that  of  the  prince 

*  Shinto  means  the  Way  of  the  Gods,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
Way  of  Buddha, 

26 


Buddhism 

Umayado,  or,  as  he  is  more  commonly  called, 
Shotoku  Taishi,  Great  Doctor  of  the  Divine  Law. 
He  was  son  of  the  Emperor  Yomei,  and  brother  of 
the  Empress  Suiko,  during  the  greater  part  of  whose 
reign  he  acted  as  regent.  Born  of  a  Buddhist  mother, 
he  is  represented  as  having  been  from  childhood  pious 
and  fond  of  learning.  A  wooden  statue  preserved  at 
Nara,  and  which  is  strikingly  like  the  charming  re- 
liefs of  children  by  Luca  della  Robbia,  shows  him  as 
an  infant  with  hands  clasped  in  prayer.  In  his  youth, 
as  general  of  the  imperial  forces,  he  quelled  the  re- 
bellion of  the  Buddha-hater,  Moroye.  As  regent,  he 
reformed  the  administration  of  the  empire,  establish- 
ing governmental  departments  and  sending  out  pro- 
vincial rulers  clothed  with  authority  over  the  local 
chiefs.  For  the  guidance  of  these  functionaries  he 
prepared  a  short  code  of  laws,  or  rather  precepts,  ad- 
vising them  to  act  as  peacemakers  between  chiefs  of 
adjoining  districts  and  to  teach  the  duty  of  honoring 
Buddhism  and  obeying  the  Empress ;  they  were  to 
observe  politeness  in  the  conduct  of  official  business, 
and  to  promote  capable  officers ;  bribe-taking,  favor- 
itism, and  the  levying  of  taxes  for  private  use  were 
forbidden  ;  the  winter  season  was  indicated  for  the 
carrying  out  of  important  public  works,  so  as  not  to 
interfere  with  agriculture;  diligence,  fidelity,  and  de- 
votion to  the  public  good  were  required  of  all  officers. 
27 


Sunrise  Stories 

Shotoku  Taishi  is  venerated  as  the  founder  of  the 
monasteries  of  Koriuji  at  Kioto,  and  of  Horiuji  in  the 
hills  near  Nara,  the  Founder's  Hall  of  which  last 
still  exists,  the  oldest  of  Buddhist  monuments  in 
Japan.  It  may  help  to  establish  him  in  the  reader's 
memory  to  note  the  year  of  his  death,  which  was  that 
of  Mahomet's  Hegira,  A.D.  622.* 

The  effect  of  Buddhism  on  the  literature  that  soon 
came  into  existence — the  classical  literature  of  Japan 
— shows  itself  in  a  more  intimate  and  trustful  com- 
merce with  nature,  in  a  greater  refinement  of  taste 
and  sentiment,  and  in  a  tendency  toward  the  ideal. 
Its  influence,  in  truth,  was  not  very  profound.  For 
this  there  were  several  reasons,  chief  of  which  was 
the  persistence  of  the  ancient  faith.  Shinto  stood  as 
a  rock  in  the  flood  of  new  beliefs,  neither  submerged 
nor  swept  away,  as  were,  at  the  same  period,  the 
pagan  faiths  of  Western  Europe.  The  new  religion 
simply  took  possession,  on  the  whole  peacefully,  of  the 
large  territory  uncovered  by  the  old.  To  the  Western 
reader  nothing  is  stranger  than  the  constant  outcrop- 
ping of  Shinto  sentiments  in  the  writings  of  professed 
Buddhists.  In  so  far  as  regards  the  peculiar  type 
of  patriotism  which  is  the  essence  of  Shinto,  the 
national  character  was  already  set  when  the  Buddh- 

*  A  Biography  of  Shotoku  Taishi  was  written  by  Taira  no  Moto- 
chika  about  A.  u.  992. 

28 


Buddhism 

1st  monks  appeared  upon  the  scene.  One  or 
two  attempts  were  indeed  made  to  bring  about  a 
complete  revolution,  but  they  proved  utter  failures. 
Neither  the  zeal  of  an  empress,  nor  the  long  anarchy 
of  the  civil  wars,  could  undo  the  work  of  the  early 
ages.  Loyalty,  family  pride,  religion,  and  patriotism 
are  all  one  in  the  Japanese  soul.  With  people  of 
European  stock  these"  sentiments  may  be  said  to  be 
naturally  connected  like  the  leaves  in  a  bud;  with 
the  Japanese  the  bud  has  hardened  into  a  thorn,  which 
has  always  wounded  the  hand  that  has  meddled 
with  it. 

The  habit  of  writing  on  all  important  matters  in 
Chinese  left  the  cultivation  of  the  native  tongue  to 
the  ladies,  with  whom  an  affectation  of  intellectuality 
seems  to  have  become  as  much  the  fashion  as  it  is  at 
the  present  day.  Now,  they  spoil  their  eyes  reading 
German  text,  and  have  abandoned  their  prayer-books 
to  study  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer.  Then,  they  learned 
the  Sutras  by  heart,  wrote  verses,  kept  diaries,  and 
criticised  paintings.  One  can  forgive  these  far  East- 
ern precieuses  their  little  self-conscious  airs  and  gri- 
maces, for  with  all  their  learning  they  are  seldom  dull. 
But  they  are  in  part  to  blame  for  the  slightness  of 
the  matter  and  the  all-importance  of  form  in  the 
ancient  literature  of  their  country. 

The  exclusiveness  fostered  by  the  new  civilization, 
29 


Sunrise  Stories 

which  was  for  a  long  time  confined  to  court  circles, 
gradually  cut  off  the  writers  from  real  life  and  its 
variety.  There  is  much  of  natural  feeling  and  frank 
utterance  in  the  earliest  works ;  but  these  were  soon 
superseded  by  such  qualities  as  might  be  expected  of 
the  uncommon  aesthetic  endowment  of  the  race,  kept 
within  strict  bounds  as  to  subject  and  treatment,  and 
forever  driven  to  take  refuge  in  new  subtleties,  new 
refinement  by  a  constant  and  well-founded  dread  of 
ennui.  Courtliness,  ceremoniousriess,  elegance,  dis- 
tinction are  almost  always  present.  Their  poetry 
is  vague,  dreamy,  unsubstantial;  a  poetry  in  which 
everything  appears  against  a  background  of  mist ;  a 
poetry  of  trees  in  blossom,  of  falling  leaves,  lapsing 
waves ;  a  poetry  which  to  attempt  to  imitate  closely 
in  English  were  to  take  Boreas  for  a  flute-player. 

But  in  the  plastic  arts  there  was  great  and  sudden 
development  distinctly  due  to  Buddhism.  The  nat- 
ural turn  of  the  people  for  aesthetic  pleasures  must  not 
be  forgotten.  A  long  list  might  be  made  of  the  flower- 
ing plants  and  trees  mentioned  in  the  "  Kojiki."  The 
mortuary  images  already  spoken  of  give  evidence  of  a 
sense  of  organic  beauty  usually  not  to  be  found  ex- 
cept among  highly  civilized  peoples.  But  it  cannot 
be  questioned  that  the  main  influence  came  from 
China  and  Korea.  The  most  famous  of  the  early 
sculptors,  painters,  and  architects  were  foreigners; 
30 


Buddhism 

and,  indeed,  the  little  direct  knowledge  that  we  have 
of  ancient  Chinese  Buddhist  art  is  confined  to  speci- 
mens preserved  in  Japanese  temples  and  treasuries. 
It  is  usual  to  refer  the  rise  of  that  art  to  the  fountain- 
head  of  Buddhism,  India,  *  whose  influence  is,  in- 
deed, easily  traceable ;  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  describe 
it  as  dominant.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
before  Buddhism  had  penetrated  into  China,  in  the 
first  century  of  our  era,  the  Chinese  had  already 
brought  the  arts  of  design  to  a  condition  at  least  as 
advanced  as  that  which  they  had  attained  in  ancient 
Egypt.  They  had  most  likely  proceeded  much  fur- 
ther in  the  realistic  painting  of  animals  and  plants, 
and  in  a  graphic  style  of  sketching  landscapes  and 
figures  in  ink.  Hindoo  art  supplied  them  with 
higher  motives,  a  more  solemn  coloring,  an  enthu- 
siasm which  they  probably  lacked.  The  styles  of 
Chinese  painting  that  were  transferred  to  Japan  com- 
prised not  only  that  of  the  Buddhist  school  of  illumi- 
nations in  broad,  flat  tints,  bounded  by  firmly  drawn 
outlines  and  set  off  by  gold  backgrounds,  but  also 
the  dexterous  free  sketching  in  black  line  and  mass,  a 
result  of  the  constant  practice  with  the  brush  afforded 
by  Chinese  ideographic  writing,  and  a  style  of  minia- 
ture painting  that  soon  branched  into  two  schools, 

*  Some  go  farther  and  ascribe  the  beginnings  of  Indian  art  to 
the  Greeks  of  Alexander's  army. 

31 


Sunrise  Stories 

one  stiff  in  form  and  conventional  in  color,  the  other 
minutely  realistic,  except  as  to  the  avoidance  of 
shadows.  In  Japan,  many  other  intermediate  schools 
appeared.  New  subjects  were  found  in  the  national 
legends  and  history.  We  learn  from  the  romance  of 
Genji  how  paintings  were  criticised  by  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  the  court.  It  was  de  rtgueur  that  the 
decorative  effect  of  the  mounts  and  accessories  should 
first  be  passed  upon,  and,  to  enhance  it,  the  pictures 
were  brought  in  by  young  girls  whose  dress  repeated 
the  fundamental  tones  of  the  Kakemono.  The  nature 
of  the  subject,  whether  more  or  less  worthy,  was 
next  considered ;  and,  these  subordinate  matters  out 
of  the  way,  the  prize  was  awarded  to  that  painting 
which  was  adjudged  to  render  most  faithfully  the 
sentiments  inspired  by  natural  beauty. 

A  Buddha  by  the  first  great  native  painter,  Kose 
no  Kanaoka,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  the  author 
of  Genji,  was  shown  at  the  Paris  Retrospective  Ex- 
hibition, and  was  remarked  not  more  for  its  strange 
technique,  its  strong  outlines,  its  slight  modelling,  its 
pale  flesh  tints  starting  out  from  intense  dark  reds  of 
drapery  and  background  of  tarnished  gold,  than  for 
its  mysterious  charm  of  expression,  its  majestic  calm, 
and  quiet  grace.  But  the  paintings  on  the  wall  of 
the  Hondo  at  Koriuji,  praised  by  La  Farge  for  their 
placid  elegance,  quiet  refinement  of  line,  and  breadth 
32 


Buddhism 

of  religious  peace,  are  from  the  hand  of  the  Korean, 
Tori  Busshi,  to  whom  are  also  due  the  majestic  statue 
of  the  Healing  Buddha,  and  various  other  works  pre- 
served there.  The  most  celebrated  piece  of  Buddhist 
painting  in  Japan,  or  in  the  world,  is  the  immense 
kakemono  on  which  the  Chinese  artist,  Wu-tao-tse, 
has  depicted  the  eight  scenes  of  the  life  of  Buddha. 
A  central  picture  of  the  death  of  Gautama  is  sur- 
rounded by  others  of  his  birth  in  heaven,  his  concep- 
tion, his  birth  on  earth,  his  retreat  among  the  ascet- 
ics, his  temptation  under  the  Boddhimanda  fig-tree, 
his  preaching  at  Benares,  the  aerial  flight  of  his  coffin 
around  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Kousinagara,  and  his 
reception  into  Nirvana. 

The  golden  hall  at  Koriuji  was  built  and  decorated 
when  the  mosaics  of  Ravenna  were  yet  new,  and 
Kanaoka  painted  when  Charlemagne  was  collecting 
illuminated  manuscripts  and  sitting  up  of  nights  to 
learn  his  letters.  In  splendor  and  in  depth  of  religi- 
ous feeling  the  arts  of  the  East  and  West  were  on  an 
equality.  In  power  over  form,  the  Buddhist  art, 
with  all  its  shortcomings,  was  superior. 


33 


YOUR   CHOICE  OF   MIRACLES 

THE  change  in  religious  ideas  was  accompanied  by 
the  growth,  in  court  circles,  of  a  somewhat  sceptical 
and  ironical  spirit ;  but  the  masses  displayed  a  healthy 
appetite  for  the  marvellous,  which,  indeed,  grew  with 
what  it  fed  on.  The  legendary  outcome  of  a  thou- 
sand years  of  Buddhism  in  India  and  China,  added 
to  their  native  myths,  did  not  suffice  them.  In  the 
age  of  faith  that  followed  the  establishment  of  the 
new  creed,  a  host  of  quaint  fictions  arose,  which  have 
been  gathered  into  many  volumes  of  "  Moral  and 
Amusing  Tales,"  and  brighten  the  pages  of  serious 
biographies  and  histories.* 

It  were  easy  to  find  parallels  among  the  contem- 
porary Christian  legends  of  Western  Europe  for  most 
of  the  Buddhist  miracle  stories.  Pious  fancy  that 
joins  together  what  nature  has  held  asunder  is  the 
real  wonder-worker ;  and  it  was  as  easy  for  it  to 

*  As.  for  example :  Gukuansho  (Buddhist  Tales),  by  Ichin  Osho, 
1230;  Shashe-Kishiu  (Moral  Stories),  by  Mujiu,  1279;  and  the 
Biographies  of  Shotoku  Taishi,  Sugawara  no  Michizano.  and 
Kobd  Daishi. 

34 


Your  Choice  of  Miracles 

carry  the  Hovering  Stone  down  Severn  to  Glaston- 
bury  "in  the  old  time  of  the  King  Arthuir,"  as  to 
cause  the  convent  bell  to  float  like  a  big  bubble  when 
thrown  into  the  torrent  of  the  Yodogawa.  The  doe 
that  came  with  full  udder  to  St.  Giles  in  his  retreat, 
"  nosing  her  way  through  the  branches,"  might  pair 
with  the  deer  of  five  colors  that  regularly  attended 
the  reading  of  the  Buddhist  Scriptures,  The  tale  of 
St.  Benedict  making  whole  the  broken  dish  by  prayer, 
caps  that  of  St.  Kobo  Daishi,  who  set  a  leaning 
pagoda  straight  by  the  same  means ;  and  Pope  Greg- 
ory's description  of  Benedict's  sojourn  in  the  Forest 
of  Sublacus  might  serve  for  companion-piece  to  that 
which  follows,  about  the  mountaineering  hermit, 
Shodo  Shonin. 

The  scene  of  the  latter's  retreat  is  now  the  most 
famous  Buddhist  show-place  in  Japan,  celebrated  all 
over  the  world,  indeed,  for  the  gorgeous  shrines  of 
the  two  great  Tokugawa  rulers,  lyeyasu  and  lyemitsu. 
In  the  early  Middle  Ages  it  was  an  unknown  and 
inaccessible  valley  in  the  heart  of  a  mountainous 
wilderness.  While  in  retreat  in  the  caves  of  Izuru, 
the  future  Abbot  of  Nikko  saw  in  vision  the  four 
great  peaks  dominating  the  hidden  valley,  and  felt 
himself  irresistibly  drawn  to  them.  The  whole  way 
(it  was  far  to  the  north)  lay  over  unnamed  mountain 
ridges.  Chain  succeeded  chain,  each  trending  di- 
35 


Sunrise  Stories 

rectly  across  his  path.  They  reared  themselves  against 
him  like  a  succession  of  enormous  ramparts,  and  as  it 
was  mid-winter  the  passes  were  deep  in  snow.  Yet 
the  saint  did  not  hesitate,  but,  following  the  prompt- 
ings of  the  Spirit,  he  floundered  on  through  the  wide, 
white,  silent  landscape  until  he  reached  a  lofty  sum- 
mit from  which  he  could  see,  still  far  away,  the  moun- 
tains of  his  dream.  So  high  they  looked,  so  far,  and, 
in  their  covering  of  snow,  so  pure  and  unsullied,  that 
he  felt  himself  unworthy  to  approach  nearer.  Here, 
then,  he  spent  three  years  in  fasting  and  prayer,  in 
face  of  the  object  of  his  desire.  The  local  divinity 
waited  on  him  and  supplied  his  needs  ;  for  the  coun- 
try gods  in  those  delightful  times  everywhere  became 
the  humble  and  devoted  gillies  of  the  rambling  Buddh- 
ist saints,  and  aided  them  to  spy  out  the  land.  But, 
at  the  end,  he  still  thought  himself  unworthy,  and 
returned  to  Izuru. 

The  spirit  of  discovery,  however,  was  strong  within 
him,  and,  after  five  years  given  to  pious  exercises,  he 
renewed  his  attempt.  He  had  not  proceeded  far  on 
his  second  journey  when  he  noticed  that,  right  and 
left,  before  and  after,  four  clouds — one  black,  one 
blue,  one  white,  one  ruddy — were  travelling  with 
him.  However  far  he  was  obliged  to  deviate 
from  the  direct  route,  they  kept  their  relative 
positions  at  the  four  cardinal  points,  and  so  guided 
36 


Your  Choice  of  Miracles 

him  on  his  way.  He  passed  his  stopping-place  of 
eight  years  before.  A  little  farther  on  the  only 
path  was  crossed  by  a  swift  torrent ;  but,  again,  the 
local  deity  came  to  his  assistance  and  flung  across 
the  chasm  a  bridge  of  living  snakes,  which  disap- 
peared the  moment  the  saint  set  foot  upon  the  oppo- 
site bank.  There  he  built  him  a  cabin,  and  once 
more  betook  himself  to  prayer  and  meditation. 

In  answer  to  his  prayers  the  vision  returned,  and 
the  four  gods  that  guarded  the  sacred  mountains  mani- 
fested themselves  to  him  as  the  Black  Warrior,  the 
Blue  Dragon,  the  Vermilion  Bird,  and  the  White 
Tiger,  and  urged  him  to  resume  his  journey.  Their 
colors  corresponded  with  those  of  the  clouds  that  had 
guided  him  hitherto ;  and  when  again  these  clouds 
appeared,  steadfast  upon  four  great  peaks,  he  knew 
that  he  had  at  last  reached  the  predestined  scene  of 
his  life's  labors.  A  small  lake  lay  in  the  hollow  be- 
tween the  mountains.  High  in  a  cliff  on  the  further 
bank  was  the  cave  of  a  wind-god,  who  obligingly  sur- 
rendered it  to  the  new-comer.  Disciples  gradually 
made  their  way  to  the  hermit  and  settled  in  the  valley 
below.  Mite-dropping  pilgrims  followed,  and,  by 
degrees,  temples  and  monasteries  arose  in  the  wilder- 
ness. 

Shod5  ShOnin's  successor  as  abbot  was  Kob5  Dais- 
hi,  of  whose  philosophical  treatise  on  the  "  Teaching 

37 


Sunrise  Stories 

of  the  Truth  "  M.  de  Rosny  has  published  a  transla- 
tion. KobO  Daishi  was  of  St.  Paul's  advice — that 
there  are  "divers  ministries,"  and  he  included  the 
concoction  of  pious  fictions  among  them  ;  but  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  he  would  approve  of  all  that  are 
current  about  himself.  He  is  famous  as  calligrapher, 
and  as  the  inventor  of  the  Japanese  style  of  writing ; 
and  it  is  related  that  once,  in  a  contest  of  penmanship 
with  the  God  of  Wisdom,  the  latter  wrote  the  char- 
acter for  ' '  dragon  ' '  upon  the  river  Ujigawa,  but  for- 
got to  dot  it.  Then,  at  his  request,  Kobo  Daishi  sup- 
plied the  dot,  and  the  character  became  a  living 
dragon,  and  in  a  great  commotion  of  winds  and  waters 
ascended  from  the  river  into  the  clouds.  There  are 
tales  of  other  Rishis  producing  waterspouts,  horses, 
and  dragons  from  their  drinking-bowls,  but  the  fol- 
lowing little  apologue  seems  intended  to  carry  a 
moral,  and  that  moral  appears  to  be  that  a  steadfast 
faith  is  better  than  skill  in  controversy. 

At  Tosa,  where  Kobo  Daishi  passed  his  novitiate, 
it  was  customary  to  try  the  constancy  and  the  cour- 
age of  the  applicant  for  holy  orders  by  posting  him  to 
keep  watch  for  a  night  at  the  monastery  gate.  The 
rocky  platform  on  which  the  building  stood  looks  out 
over  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  and,  especially  at  night,  the 
vague  immensities  of  sea  and  sky  may  well  have  had  an 
unsettling  effect  even  on  minds  thoroughly  grounded 
38 


Your  Choice  of  Miracles 

in  the  holy  Sutras.  Shadowy  doubts  came  to  tor- 
ment the  novice  in  the  first  hours  of  his  vigil.  The 
wind  that  whispered  in  the  gloomy  cryptomeria-trees, 
the  waves  dashing  upon  the  rocks  far  below,  seemed 
to  give  voice  to  his  uncertainties.  The  spirits  of  in- 
credulity and  misbelief  at  length  took  form  as  goblins 
that  started  out  from  the  recesses  of  the  wood,  and  as 
dragons  that  writhed  up  from  the  abyss,  and  assailed 
him  on  all  sides  with  taunts  and  outrageous  proposi- 
tions. They  propounded  unanswerable  questions, 
they  hedged  him  in  with  sophistries,  they  opened  out 
distracting  side-issues,  stunned  him  with  blatant  as- 
sertions ;  they  howled  at  him,  roared  at  him,  threat- 
ened him,  insulted  him.  Every  weapon  in  the  armory 
of  unbelief  was  brought  to  bear.  Like  Luther,  he 
was  rendered  desperate ;  but,  unlike  Luther,  he  had 
no  ink-bottle  at  hand  to  hurl  at  his  tormentors.  In 
this  situation,  unable  to  confute  a  hundred  assailants 
at  once,  he  could  think  of  no  better  way  of  showing 
his  contempt  for  the  rabble  than  by  spitting  upon 
them.  At  the  moment  the  rays  of  the  evening  star 
shone  full  into  his  mouth,  and  the  demons,  to  whom 
it  appeared  that  the  holy  youth  expectorated  starlight, 
were  filled  with  a  sudden  fear  that  worse  might  be- 
fall them.  The  miracle,  though  but  a  lucky  chance, 
was  too  much  for  them,  and  they  gave  up  the  contest 
and  retired  to  the  depths  out  of  which  they  had  come. 
39 


Sunrise  Stories 

There  is  one  notable  difference  between  these 
Buddhist  stories  and  the  legends  of  Christian  saints 
and  missionaries.  We  nowhere  read  of  these  latter 
making  compacts  with  pagan  gods  or  taking  them 
into  their  service,  as  appears  to  have  been  the  rule 
with  the  apostles  of  Buddhism  in  Japan.  Every 
Buddhist  monastery  has,  in  fact,  its  barbarian  god  for 
guardian  or  protector.  And  Shintd,  Taoist,  and 
Buddhist  miracles  make  room  for  one  another,  so  to 
speak,  as  did  the  myths  of  Kiushiu,  Izumo,  and  Ya- 
mato.  There  are  cases  in  which  the  Buddhist  serpent 
has  swallowed  the  Shint6  snakes,  but  these  are 
plainly  to  be  seen,  alive  and  wriggling  in  its  belly. 
ShodO  ShOnin's  four  clouds  are  manifestly  a  Shintd 
invention.  The  "eternal  polity"  of  the  Japanese 
was,  and  is,  bound  up  with  their  primitive  concep- 
tions, and  in  accepting  Buddhism,  they  made  sure 
that  the  divinely  established  order  of  -society  was  not 
endangered  thereby.  The  doctrine  of  transmigration 
made  it  easy  for  the  missionaries  to  adopt  the  ances- 
tral gods  of  Japan  as  temporary  manifestations  of  the 
Buddha.  Thus,  when  the  abbot  and  sculptor,  Gyogi, 
was  referred  to  the  Sun-goddess  at  Is6  for  authority 
to  erect  the  colossal  statue  of  Buddha  at  Nara, 
Amaterasu  (probably  in  the  shape  of  her  priestess) 
appeared  to  him  on  the  seventh  night  of  his  watch- 
ing to  say  that  she  was  herself,  in  reality,  Amida 
40 


Your  Choice  of  Miracles 

Buddha — the  Buddha  of  enlightenment.  To  this 
Buddha,  therefore,  the  great  bronze  statue  was  dedi- 
cated. 

A  curious  consequence  of  this  mingling  of  beliefs 
is  seen  in  prayers  of  devout  nuns  and  priests,  that 
these  Protean  divinities  would  deign  to  manifest 
themselves  in  their  true  form.  A  certain  artist 
monk,  desiring  to  paint  a  true  likeness  of  Gautama, 
earnestly  entreated  him  to  reveal  himself,  and  at  day- 
break saw  the  great  teacher's  countenance  in  the 
sun's  disk  as  it  rose  between  the  two  green  crests 
that  fronted  on  his  monastery.  Since  all  Buddhas 
are  one,  this  miracle  is  plainly  confirmatory  of  the 
doctrine  laid  down  by  Gyogi.  It  was  in  answer  to 
a  similar  prayer  of  the  Princess  Taema  that  Kuanon  * 
wove  the  famous  mandaraf  of  lotos  fibres,  miracu- 
lously dyed  of  many  hues  in  the  clear  water  of  the 
convent  well,  in  which  appeared  the  portraits  of  the 
divine  weaver,  and  of  all  the  Buddhist  saints  and 
deities.  Unfortunately  but  a  small  scrap  of  this 
famous  tapestry  now  exists. 

These  Buddhist  stories,  we  may  say,  are  white  lies, 
like  the  efforts  of  children  to  put  this  and  that  to- 

*  God  or  Goddess  of  Mercy.  A  manifestation  of  Buddha  usu- 
ally represented  as  a  female,  but  sometimes  as  a  male. 

t  A  picture  of  the  earthly  and  celestial  spheres,  with  a  Buddhist 
pantheon. 


Sunrise  Stories 

gather.  They  never  deceived  nor  were  intended  to 
deceive,  and  they  pleased  and  instructed  a  people 
avid  of  wonders.  But  pure  Shinto  miracles  had  not 
ceased,  and  some  of  them  are  of  another  stamp,  such 
as  the  tale  of  the  clever  young  woman  who  demon- 
strated that  her  clandestine  lover  was  a  god  by  ty- 
ing the  end  of  a  ball  of  yarn  to  his  robe,  and  so 
tracking  him  to  his  shrine.  As  a  rule,  the  Shinto 
miracle  is  less  presentable  or  less  picturesque  than  the 
Buddhist. 

The  powers  attributed  to  the  artists  of  the  time  are 
hardly  less  miraculous  than  those  ascribed  to  the 
saints,  which  is  the  less  remarkable  as  saint  and 
artist  were  often  one  and  the  same.  But  the  old  and 
widespread  superstition  that  regarded  the  painter  as 
in  the  fullest  sense  a  creator,  is  answerable  for  the 
stories  told  of  Kanaoka's  horses,  and  of  the  passing 
of  Wu-tao-tse. 

Kanaoka,  the  greatest  painter  of  the  Buddhist 
school,  occasionally  amused  himself  by  excursions 
into  a  branch  of  art  which  permitted  freer  handling. 
He  chose  the  painting  of  horses,  a  genre  which  in  his 
day  was  much  admired  in  both  China  and  Japan. 
Some  of  his  steeds,  it  appears,  were  in  the  habit  of 
leaving  the  paper  on  which  they  were  painted  to 
gallop  at  night  about  the  country.  To  one  was 
brought  home  the  crime  of  having  destroyed  the 
42 


Your  Choice  of  Miracles 

Mikado's  lespediza  beds  ;  and  another  was  convicted 
of  having  in  his  nocturnal  gambols  trampled  down 
the  growing  rice  in  the  fields  near  by.  The  former 
was  merely  tethered  by  a  strong  chain  to  a  pillar ; 
but  the  angry  farmers  who  detected  the  latter  by  the 
mud  upon  his  hoofs,  took  revenge  for  their  losses  by 
scratching  out  his  eyes. 

Some  account  has  been  given  in  the  last  chapter 
of  Wu-tao-tse's  great  painting  of  the  Eight  Scenes. 
He  was  even  more  famous  as  a  landscape  painter  than 
as  a  painter  of  religious  subjects.  After  a  brilliant 
artistic  career  in  Japan,  where  his  only  authentic 
pictures  are  now  preserved,  he  was  recalled  to  China 
by  the  Emperor,  for  whom  he  decorated  several  pa- 
vilions with  landscapes  in  the  romantic  style  of  the 
Flowery  Kingdom.  On  a  certain  painting  of  a  se- 
cluded glen  between  two  rocky  and  wooded  moun- 
tains, he  expended  much  time  and  labor,  and  was  un- 
willing that  any  one,  even  the  Emperor,  should  see 
it  while  in  progress  ;  a  fact  that  was  remarked  upon 
ill-naturedly  by  several  of  the  courtiers.  At  last  the 
picture  was  finished,  and  his  Imperial  Majesty  was 
told  that  he  would  be  admitted.  He  went  with  his 
customary  retinue,  which  included  some  critics  more 
disposed  to  display  their  knowledge  than  to  appreci- 
ate a  work  of  genius.  These  distressing  persons  be- 
gan at  once  to  discover  defects  in  the  painting.  The 
43 


Sunrise  Stories 

rocks  were  out  of  drawing  ;  the  foliage  was  stiff  and 
labored ;  the  clouds  were  too  sharply  defined ;  the 
little  chalet  hidden  among  the  trees  should  be  more 
conspicuous,  they  thought,  and  its  architecture  of  a 
less  commonplace  order.  The  rivulet  did  not  flow  ; 
the  air  did  not  circulate ;  in  short,  every  part  of  the 
picture  was  conceived  and  executed  in  defiance  of 
all  the  rules  of  art  and  laws  of  nature.  They  ended 
by  convincing  the  Emperor  that  it  was  a  mediocre 
affair,  unworthy  of  his  inspection,  and  that  the 
painter  had  lost  his  cunning.  To  all  this  the  latter 
listened  in  silence.  But,  when  they  had  quite  fin- 
ished, and  the  Emperor  was  about  to  depart,  Wu- 
tao-tse,  who  had  created  that  particular  paradise 
to  be  his  own  eternal  abode,  politely  bade  his  Majesty 
farewell,  and,  calmly  stepping  into  his  landscape, 
disappeared  among  the  trees.  Then  the  picture 
faded  away  like  a  mirage,  and  neither  it  nor  the 
painter  has  been  seen  again. 

Numberless  examples  might  be  brought  forward  of 
the  miracle  pour  rire.  In  Japan  those  objects  that 
we  somewhat  hastily  term  "  inanimate  "  do  not  need 
to  be  bewitched.  Umbrellas,  lanterns,  and  bowls  of 
rice  may  be  goblins  in  their  own  right,  as  in  the 
interesting  family  gathering  depicted  in  a  novelette 
by  Bakin.  But  one  may  also  be  the  victim  of  de- 
monic abuse,  and  be  needlessly  terrified  by  things 
44 


Your  Choice  of  Miracles 

really  innocent.  The  story  of  the  emperor  Uda  and 
the  demon  is  a  favorite  subject  with  artists  in  lacquer. 
His  Augustness  was  on  his  way,  one  stormy  night,  to 
a  place  which  he  should  not  have  frequented,*  when 
he  was  surprised  in  a  narrow  passage  by  a  shaggy  and 
misshapen  being  which  rushed  at  a  furious  pace  upon 
him,  emitting  flashes  of  fire.  The  Emperor  would 
have  fled,  but  his  attendant,  Takamochi,  promptly 
knocked  the  goblin  down,  who  turned  out  to  be  a 
poor  old  priest,  clad  in  a  straw  storm-coat,  who  was 
running  to  relight  a  votive  lantern  that  had  been 
blown  out  by  the  gale.  It  is  not  said  what  was  done 
for  the  priest,  but  Takamochi,  for  his  bravery,  was 
promoted  to  an  honorable  position,  and  became  the 
ancestor  of  the  famous  Taira  clan. 

The  jolly  abbot  Toba  was  a  famous  creator  of 
comic  wonders.  Come  of  a  fighting  stock — the  Min- 
amoto,  later  the  chief  antagonists  of  the  Taira — he 
caricatured  both  warriors  and  clergy.  He  is  said  to 
be  the  inventor  of  the  Japanese  ghost,  that  astonish- 
ing bogy  made  up  of  a  wisp  of  hair,  a  shroud,  and  a 
wraith  of  mist,  that  ascends  from  some  neglected  grave 
at  dusk  to  frighten  the  penitent  widower  who  comes 
to  offer  up  a  prayer  long  overdue.  From  him  are 
all  rough  sketches  of  comic  intent  called  Toba-ye. 
M.  Gonse  publishes  a  drawing  of  his  in  which  a 
*  Gion  Street,  the  Yoshiwara  of  Kioto. 
45 


Sunrise  Stories 

doughty  warrior,  mounted  on  a  mouse,  his  face  to  the 
tail  of  his  charger,  overturns,  while  in  full  retreat, 
two  of  his  pursuers  with  a  prod  of  his  lance.  Toba's 
men  and  women  are  only  amusing  creations  of  an 
irresponsible  brush,  but  he  is  said  to  have  rivalled 
Kanaoka  as  a  draughtsman  of  horses.  He  seems  to 
have  found  something  hugely  comic  in  the  play  of 
these  beasts  when  full-fed  and  at  liberty. 

Perhaps  those  Chinese  paintings  already  referred  to, 
and  of  which  we  see  copies  on  Ming  vases,  may  have 
stimulated  his  fancy.  The  present  Emperor  of  Japan 
is  the  owner  of  a  screen  decorated  by  him  with  twelve 
horses  of  the  size  of  life,  spiritedly  drawn  in  India- 
ink.  The  virtues  of  the  herb  Pantagruelion  must 
assuredly  have  been  known  to  this  good  Buddhist 
abbot,  whose  harmless  humor,  like  that  of  the  later 
comic  artists  of  his  race,  may  be  truly  described  as 
consisting  mainly  in  "  une  certaine  galeti  d*  esprit  con- 
fit  en  mepris  de  chosesfortuites." 


46 


VI 

SONGS  OF  TWO  CITIES— NARA 

Now  "  a  ruin  in  the  rice-fields,"  through  which  still 
extend  its  long  avenues  of  ancient  chamsecyparis- 
trees,  and  across  which  for  twenty  miles  around  the 
booming  of  its  great  bell  still  resounds  at  evening, 
above  the  croaking  of  a  myriad  frogs,  Nara  grew 
up  about  the  monasteries  founded  by  Shotoku  Taishi. 
The  great  temples  of  Todaiji  and  Koriuji,  splendid 
with  richly  colored  wall-paintings  and  images  of 
gilded  bronze,  situated  with  their  many  dependencies 
on  the  verge  of  a  cultivable  plain  surrounded  by 
mountains,  determined  the  Empress  Jito  to  fix  her 
wandering  court  there.  It  became  the  first  settled 
capital  in  which  the  conditions  of  city  life  defini- 
tively replaced  those  of  the  camp. 

Jito  was  a  remarkable  woman,  even  for  old  Japan. 
Daughter  of  one  emperor  and  consort  of  another,  she 
assumed  the  regency  after  the  latter's  death,  setting 
aside  and  causing  to  be  executed  as  a  rebel  the 
prince  Ohotsuno,  who  had  been  named  for  regent 
by  her  husband.  Her  son,  who  was  to  have  suc- 
47 


Sunrise  Stories 

ceeded  to  the  throne,  died  at  an  early  age,  and  she 
had  herself  proclaimed  as  reigning  Empress  A.D. 
690.  Six  years  later  she  resigned  the  throne  in  favor 
of  her  grandson,  Mommu;  but  he  also  died,  and 
Jito  resumed  the  crown  at  Nara  in  708.  From  that 
date  until  784,  Nara  remained  the  capital  of  the 
empire. 

There,  under  Jito,  was  compiled  and  published  the 
"Book  of  Old  Traditions,"  begun  by  order  of  her 
husband,  Tenmu.  This  first  step  toward  the  crea- 
tion of  a  national  literature  was  followed,  in  720, 
under  her  daughter  and  successor,  Gensho,  by  the 
publication  of  the  Nihongi,  or  "  Chronicles  of  Japan." 
But  Nara  owed  its  greatest  glories  to  a  third  imperial 
consort,  who,  though  she  never  actually  reigned,  is 
known  in  history  as  the  Empress  Glorious  par  excel- 
lence. This  was  the  spouse  of  the  Mikado  Shomu, 
who  succeeded  Gensho  in  724. 

She  it  was  who  filled  Japan  with  monasteries  in 
every  province,  each  with  its  school  and  hospital, 
each  with  its  little  band  of  scribes  and  artists  con- 
stantly occupied  in  copying  and  ornamenting  the 
Buddhist  scriptures,  in  carving  and  painting  the 
images  of  the  saints.  Her  own  copy  of  one  of  the 
holy  books  is  still  preserved,  and  is  noted  for  the 
beauty  of  its  calligraphy  and  illuminations.  It  was 
owing  to  the  enthusiasm  inspired  by  her  that  the 
48 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

colossal  bronze  statue  of  Buddha  the  Enlightener 
was  set  up,  dreaming  with  open  eyes  above  the  groves 
and  housetops  of  the  city. 

Society  at  Nara  followed  a  course  not  altogether  in 
accordance  with  the  teachings  of  its  tutelary  divinity. 
A  sumptuous  and  refined  civilization  grew  up  among 
the  population  of  idle  warriors  and  courtiers,  as  the 
chief  result  of  the  labors  of  foreign  scholars,  artists, 
and  ecclesiastics.  Nara  became  the  home  of  luxuri- 
ous arts,  of  emotional  poetry  and  polite  learning. 
Academies  were  opened  for  the  instruction  of  the  sons 
of  government  officials,  where,  besides  the  useful 
sciences  of  mathematics  and  medicine,  music,  astrol- 
ogy, and  Chinese  philosophy  and  poetry  were  taught. 
And,  though  unprovided  with  special  schools,  the 
ladies  of  the  Court  were  often  better  instructed  than 
the  men,  and  exercised  much  influence  in  every  walk 
of  life.  The  richer  among  them  dressed  in  gorgeous 
brocades,  their  furniture  was  of  costly  lacquer,  they 
amused  themselves  with  games  played  on  inlaid 
checker-boards,  and  carried  their  illuminated  books 
of  prayers  in  cases  ornamented  with  gold  and  amber. 
The  poorer  prepared  themselves  the  yarn  that  hung 
to  bleach  on  the  bamboo  fence  of  the  door-yard,  and 
wove  it  into  the  coarse  cloth  of  which  they  made 
their  garments.  But  distinction  seems  to  have  been 
little  based  on  wealth,  and  the  whole  of  the  Yamato 
49 


Sunrise  Stories 

nation,  as  distinguished  from  the  subject  tribes,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  accounted  noble.  The  women 
generally  were  taught  the  music  of  China,  Koma, 
Kudara,  Shiragi,  and  Kora.*  They  were  allowed  a 
great  deal  of  freedom.  They  had  dances  in  the  fields 
near  the  city,  and  concerts  in  the  open  air  under  the 
cherry-trees.  Masquerading  in  male  attire  was  per- 
mitted on  certain  festivals,  even  within  the  precincts 
of  the  palace. 

Women  had  their  special  superstitions.  Their  hus- 
bands and  lovers  were  often  away  in  garrison  on  the 
frontier,  or  on  government  business  in  distant  prov- 
inces, and,  when  no  newer  flame  had  sprung  up  to 
console  them,  they  would  consult  the  "Evening 
Oracle  "  as  to  the  return  of  the  absent  one,  and  draw 
hope  or  resignation  from  the  first  chance  words  heard 
while  promenading  at  dusk  upon  the  street.  Some 
charitable  neighbor,  acquainted  with  the  case,  would 
be  pretty  sure  to  hint  that  the  wanderer  was  already 
on  the  road,  or  was  only  detained  by  his  desire  to 
complete  a  string  of  pearls,  a  present  for  his  lucky 
inamorata.  "  Two  days  at  least,  seven  days  at  most, ' ' 
would  see  him  home  again.  But,  at  the  moment, 
the  unfortunate  might  be  lying  slain  by  treacherous 

"Kudara,  Shiragi,  and  Kora  were  petty  kingdoms  of  Korea, 
and  Koma  is  believed  to  have  been  a  general  appellation  for  that 
country. 

50 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

savages  or  overwhelmed  by  an  avalanche  in  some  un- 
known mountain  pass. 

Unhappily  there  is  abundant  evidence,  too,  that 
the  ladies  sometimes  turned  to  account  their  oppor- 
tunities for  flirtation.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore, 
the  capital  being  such  a  pleasant  place  of  abode,  and 
absence  from  it  in  more  than  one  way  dangerous,  that 
to  be  sent  to  govern  an  outlying  island  or  province 
was  looked  upon  as  a  misfortune.  Ambitious  cour- 
tiers did  not  covet  missions  of  the  sort,  and  on  the 
Buddhist  priests  and  hermits  devolved  a  large  share 
of  the  work  of  extending  the  civilization  which  they 
had  done  so  much  to  create.  These  intrepid  men 
opened  up  new  routes  in  the  wilderness,  penetrated 
into  regions  believed  to  be  guarded  by  jealous  and 
vindictive  gods,  and  established  their  hermitages  in 
places  where  the  prayer-sticks  of  the  aborigines  testi- 
fied to  their  dread  of  the  demons  of  storm  and  flood. 
Meanwhile,  in  the  intervals  of  pleasure  or  of  fighting, 
the  nobles  occupied  their  leisure  in  putting  into  verse 
the  sentiments  with  which  their  life  of  alternate  lux- 
ury and  danger  inspired  them.  The  generation  that 
witnessed  the  establishment  of  the  capital  at  Nara 
produced  much  of  the  best  lyric  poetry  of  Japan. 

The  first  and  most  esteemed  of  many  collections  of 
verse  was  made  at  the  instigation  of  Shomu  and  his 
Empress  Glorious.  The  odes  and  ballads  of  the 
51 


Sunrise  Stories 

"  Myriad  Leaves,"  like  the  stories  of  the  "  Kojiki " 
and  the  "  Nihongi,"  were  largely  drawn  from  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  more  important  families,  which  often 
took  the  form  of  pithy  sayings  in  verse,  accompanied 
by  tales  or  legends  relating  the  circumstances  of  their 
composition.  The  collection  includes  poems  cen- 
turies older  than  the  date  of  its  publication  ;  but  the 
time  was  one  of  enormous  productivity  in  this  way, 
and  may  well  be  called  the  lyric  age  of  Japan.  Hito- 
maro,  the  prince  of  Japanese  poets,  may  have  been 
still  alive  when  the  collection  was  undertaken.*  He 
and  many  of  his  contemporaries  are  represented  in  it. 
The  number  includes  its  editor,  Yakamochi,  as  an 
example  of  whose  skill  in  turning  a  compliment  we 
give  his  ode  addressed  to  the  Empress  Jito,  one  snowy 
New-Year's  morning,  during  her  first  reign  at  Kashi- 
wabara. 

A  NEW-YEAR'S  GREETING. 

TO  THE  EMPRESS.      YAKAMOCHI. 

Ceaselessly  the  snow 
From  cloudy  treasuries  falls, 

Inexhaustible. 
So  may  all  graces  on  thee 

Descend,  this  first  spring  morning. 

*  He  died  in  737.  The  exact  date  of  the  Myriad  Leaves  is 
unknown,  but  it  was  begun  in  Shomu's  reign,  which  extended 
from  724  to  749. 

52 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

It  is  a  peculiarity  of  Japanese  poetry  that  frequent- 
ly certain  words  are  made  to  do  double  duty,  and  to 
become  as  it  were  the  hinge  or  pivot  upon  which  the 
thought  turns.  Thus  in  the  original  of  this  little 
piece,  the  ' '  inexhaustible  heavens  ' '  are  the  source  at 
once  of  the  snow-fall  described  and  of  the  divine 
favors  called  down  upon  the  empress.  Thus  image 
and  idea  are  fused,  the  two  making  one  ;  but  the  con- 
struction is,  of  course,  illogical.  If  a  literal  transla- 
tion had  been  given,  the  effect  would  be  that  of  a 
mere  play  upon  words.  Yet  there  is  an  essential  dif- 
ference between  the  "  pivot- word,"  as  it  has  been 
called,  and  the  pun,  for  the  latter  consists  in  the  pres- 
entation simultaneously,  and  as  though  they  were  one 
and  the  same,  of  two  radically  different  ideas,  while 
the  pivot-words  of  Japanese  poetry  are  but  a  con- 
densed form  of  the  parallels  in  which  Chinese  as  well 
as  Hebrew  poetry  abounds.  In  another  little  ode, 
written  after  the  removal  of  the  capital  from  Nara  to 
Kioto,  the  idea  turns  upon  a  comparison  between  the 
ninefold  enclosures  of  the  new  palace,  and  the  many- 
petalled  flowers  of  the  emperor's  cherry-tree  that  had 
bloomed  beside  the  steps  to  the  throne-hall  at  Nara, 
and  had  been  transplanted  to  his  new  residence.  This 
meaning  will  appear,  if  we  consider  the  words  in  Ital- 
ics to  refer  to  both  those  that  precede  and  those  that 
follow  them.  To  repeat  these  "  pivot-words  "  would 
53 


Sunrise  Stories 

be  to  convert  the  little  piece  into  a  formal  parallel 
between  the  flowers  and  the  palace.* 

THE    CHERRY-TREE   TRANSPLANTED. 

Nara's  eightfold  bloom, 
Now  ninefold  walls  surround  it, 

Fair  and  strong,  new  built ; 
And  sweeter  far  than  ever 
Its  well-remembered  fragrance. 

The  contrivance  certainly  conduces  to  brevity, 
which,  we  are  told,  is  the  soul  of  wit ;  but  it  has  a 
grotesque  effect  in  English,  and,  along  with  other 
peculiarities,. usually  makes  it  impossible  to  give  any- 
thing like  a  close  translation  of  Japanese  poems.  The 
versification  seems,  at  first  sight,  singularly  easy  to 
imitate.  The  common  form  is  in  unrhymed  verses 
of  five  and  seven  syllables,  alternating  with  an  extra 
line  of  seven  syllables  at  the  end.  But  Japanese  is 
practically  without  accent,  which  has  so  important  an 

*  It  was  customary  that  the  residence  of  the  monarch  should  be 
surrounded  by  those  of  the  court  nobles,  the  emperor's  guards, 
and  personal  attendants,  disposed  in  various  courts  divided  from 
each  other  by  walls.  Thus  the  palace  continued  to  resemble  a 
walled  camp  and  to  recall  the  stockade  erected  by  Susanoo  in 
Izumo.  This  was  eight-walled,  it  may  be  remembered,  and  it  is 
to  be  inferred  from  the  poem  that  the  palace  at  Nara  had  only 
eight  enclosures — the  canonical  number — while  that  later  built  at 
Kioto  had  nine.  The  poem  feigns  that  the  transplanted  cherry- 
tree  had  also  a  new  circle  of  petals  added  to  its  blossoms. 

54 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

effect  on  English  metres,  and  no  recognized  English 
rhythm  reproduces  the  cadence  of  Japanese  verse. 
For  these  reasons  a  wider  license  than  ordinary  is 
claimed  for  the  imitations  that  follow. 

But  there  is  another  sort  of  poetical  composition, 
more  curious  still  than  the  regular  Japanese  ode. 
This  is  written  in  Chinese  ideograms,  according  to 
the  elaborate  rules  of  Chinese  versification ;  but,  pro- 
nounced as  Japanese,  it  is  only  a  sort  of  rhythmical 
prose.  In  explanation  it  may  be  enough  to  say  that 
the  Chinese  signs  have  been  used  from  a  very  early 
period  in  Japan  to  represent,  not  Chinese,  but  Japan- 
ese words.  In  the  sort  of  composition  referred  to, 
the  characters  are  arranged  as  in  Chinese  verse  and 
can  be  read  as  such,  but  would  often  not  be  under- 
stood by  a  Chinaman  because  of  the  novel  significa- 
tions imposed  upon  many  of  them  ;  while,  read  as 
Japanese,  the  meaning  may  be  clear,  but  the  piece  is 
without  poetic  form.  To  those  learned  in  both  lan- 
guages it  is  prose  and  poetry  at  once.  But  the 
privilege  is  inalienable ;  our  alphabet  makes  any- 
thing of  the  sort  impossible  to  us. 

Apart  from  this,  the  following  ode  is  strange 
enough  to  merit  a  moment's  attention.  It  was  writ- 
ten by  the  princely  victim  of  the  Empress  Jito,  be- 
fore mentioned,  on  the  evening  of  his  execution,  and 
gives  us  a  curious  insight  into  the  beliefs  that  were 
55 


Sunrise  Stories 

current  at  Nara  in  the  eighth  century.  The  transla- 
tion is  close  as  to  the  sense,  though  not  as  to  the 
form. 

LINES   WRITTEN   BEFORE    HIS    EXECUTION,    BY   PRINCE 
OHOTSUNO. 

See,  the  Golden  Crow  doth  fly 
To  his  hut  beneath  the  West. 
Hark,  the  drum  !  This  hour  I  die. 

Where  nor  landlord  is  nor  guest, 
This  hour  I  take  the  lonely  road, 
And  enter  on  a  hopeless  quest. 

Leaving  for  aye  my  soft  abode, 
Blindly,  I  seek  the  Fount  unknown, 
Whence  first  the  Stream  of  Being  flowed. 

The  Golden  Crow  is  explained  to  mean  the  sun. 
The  regular  evening  flight  of  the  birds  to  their  dis- 
tant nests  may  have  suggested  the  image ;  and  it  is 
worth  noting  that,  according  to  a  legend  in  the 
"Kojiki,"  it  was  a  friendly  god  in  the  form  of  a 
crow  that  led  the  Children  of  the  Sun  to  the  conquest 
of  Yamato.  It  may  be,  therefore,  that  Ohotsuno  in- 
tended some  allusion  to  a  version  of  the  sun  myth 
peculiar  to  that  province.  The  torii,  or  so-called 
"  gates,"  erected  before  Shinto  temples,  are  believed 
to  have  been  originally  intended  as  perches  for  the 
56 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

sun,  conceived  as  a  great  bird,  to  roost  upon.  The 
"soft  abode  "  that  the  prince  was  about  to  quit  was, 
of  course,  his  body  ;  and  by  the  Unknown  Fount  he 
means  the  universal  source  of  life  to  which,  according 
to  the  Buddhist  belief,  all  souls  return  at  death,  and 
from  which  they  reissue  in  new  shapes,  until,  at  last, 
they  attain  Nirvana. 

Such  very  cold  comfort  as  might  be  derived  from 
this  philosophy  was,  it  is  pleasant  to  know,  warmed 
for  poor  Ohotsuno  by  agreeable  recollections.  He 
had  been  a  mighty  hunter  in  his  day,  and  could  fe- 
licitate himself  on  the  fact  that  he  would  die  facing 
the  scene  of  many  of  his  exploits,  the  Lake  of  Iware, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  which  he  had  been  defeated 
and  taken  prisoner.  As  he  neared  the  place  of  his 
execution  the  moon,  on  the  point  of  being  hidden 
behind  the  clouds,  touched  with  a  last  ray  the  waters 
of  the  lake.  The  circumstance  impressed  him  from 
its  likeness  to  his  own  situation,  and  from  it  he  drew 
this  impromptu  in  the  Japanese  fashion  : 

Iware,  O  beloved ! 
Ere  dark  clouds  close  about  me, 

Let  my  last  glance  fall 
On  flocks  of  wild-fowl  feeding, 
Where,  in  thy  reeds,  they  gather. 

He  had  often,  we  may  suppose,  gone  hawking  at 
nightfall  upon  the  lake  like  the  sportsmen  in  Hoku- 

57 


Sunrise  Stories 

sai's  picture.  The  hawk  was  the  only  animal  used  in 
the  chase.  The  dog,  so  far  from  being  the  hunters' 
friend,  was  hunted  himself  for  practice  when  better 
game  was  lacking,  a  proceeding  which  may  be  com- 
mended to  the  attention  of  our  Nimrods,  who,  when 
they  have  killed  off  every  harmless  wild  creature,  may 
perhaps  make  amends  by  killing  their  curs.  Large 
game  was  stalked,  or  despatched  with  arrows,  jave- 
lins, and  hunting-knives,  not  without  danger  to  life 
and  limb  at  the  finish ;  and  a  great  hunt  was  a  battue 
on  a  royal  scale.  In  another  Chinese  poem  of 
Ohotsuno  that  has  come  down  to  us,  he  describes  a 
hunter's  feast  at  evening  in  the  forest. 

THE   RENDEZVOUS   AFTER   THE   CHASE. 
OHOTSUNO. 

This  morn  we  made  a  choice  of  men, 
This  eve  a  thousand  mats  we  spread  ; 
For  now,  the  moon  lights  up  the  glen, 
And  clouds  enwrap  the  mountain's  head. 
But  still  the  topmost  summits  shine 
All  purple,  'gainst  the  evening  blue  : 
Ho  !  comrades  ;  here  is  meat  and  wine, 
And  merry  be  our  rendezvous. 

Love-songs  and  elegies  form  a  large  proportion  of 
the  odes  of  the  "  Myriad  Leaves."  The  emotion  ex- 
pressed in  them  always  has  the  ring  of  sincerity,  but 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  very  profound.  A 

58 


Songs  of  Two  Cities— Nara 

simple  natural  feeling  was  matter  enough  ;  to  voice  it 
in  few  and  fit  words,  the  highest  aim  of  art.  The 
lyric  might  occasionally  be  spun  out  into  a  ballad  ; 
but  no  attempt  was  ever  made  to  connect  ballad  with 
ballad  to  form  an  epic. 

Anything  like  a  philosophical  idea  was  repugnant 
to  the  Japanese  muse,  and  was  left  to  students  of  the 
Chinese  mode  like  Ohotsuno,  as  a  contrast  to  whose 
death-song  may  be  given  the  simple  elegy,  affecting 
from  its  very  simplicity,  addressed  by  his  enemy, 
Jito,  to  her  deceased  husband.  The  confusion  of 
tenses,  natural  when  one  is  moved  by  strong  emotion, 
is  in  the  original. 

TO   THE   DEAD    EMPEROR. 
JITO  TENNO. 

Dread  lord  and  master  : 
At  evening  thou  wouldst  gaze — 

Again  at  daybreak 
Upon  the  Hill  of  Ghosts, 

Red  with  the  maple  : 
To-day  thou'dst  gaze  on  it — 

Again  to-morrow. 

I,  now,  when  evening  falls, 

Lifting  my  eyes  there, 
Am  overcome  with  sorrow  ; 

Alone,  at  dawning, 
The  sleeve  of  my  coarse  robe 

Is  never  dry  an  instant. 

59 


Sunrise  Stories 

The  following  (which  may  have  been  written  on 
the  same  occasion)  contains  an  allusion  to  the  Buddh- 
ist doctrine  that  the  soul,  in  separating  finally  from 
the  body,  gains  admission  to  the  world  of  real  exist- 
ences, this  material  world  being  essentially  void  and 
worthless.  But  it  is  altogether  cast  in  a  conventional 
mould,  and  is  therefore  inferior  to  Jito's  simple  cri 
du  cceur. 

THE    EMPTY   CHRYSALIS. 
ANON. 

Thou  the  spirit  flown, 
The  empty  shell  am  I,  and 

Cannot  follow  thee. 
Last  night  in  dream  I  saw  thee, 
But  had  no  strength  to  follow. 

Oh  !  wert  thou  a  gem 
I'd  set  thee  in  my  bracelet ; 

Wert  thou  robe  of  serge 
I  never  would  disrobe  me. 

But  last  night,  my  prince, 
I  saw,  but  could  not  follow, 
And  had  no  joy  in  seeing. 

It  is  time  to  turn  to  the  chief  poet  of  the  "  Myriad 
Leaves,"  the  only  one  to  whom  Europeans  would 
apply  the  epithet  "great."  Hitomaro  is  so  much 
admired  by  his  own  countrymen  that  he  has  been 
made  a  god — one  of  the  three  gods  of  poetry.  Yet 
60 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

more,  he  is  incontestably  the  master-spirit  of  the 
trinity ;  for,  of  the  other  two,  one  is  the  genius  of 
the  pine-tree  of  Sumiyoshi,  who,  if  he  has  inspired 
innumerable  verses  and  kakemono  in  honor  of  con- 
jugal fidelity,  has  written  nothing  himself,  and  the 
other  is  the  Princess  Sotoori,  of  whom  little  more  is 
known  than  that  she  revealed  herself  as  a  goddess  to 
some  good  people  of  the  province  of  Kii  in  724, 
three  hundred  years  after  her  death.  The  circum- 
stantial account  which  we  have  of  Hitomaro's  apothe- 
osis reveals  to  us  one  of  the  ways  in  which  public 
opinion  made  itself  felt  in  old  Japan.  The  poet, 
though  accounted  noble,  was  of  low  grade  and  ob- 
scure birth.  A  native  of  the  province  of  Iwami,  on 
the  western  seaboard,  he  appears  to  have  been  re- 
ceived at  the  court  of  the  Empress  Jito  in  the  capac- 
ity of  tutor  to  the  heir-apparent,  Prince  Hinami,  and, 
after  the  latter's  early  death,  as  a  retainer  of  Prince 
Takaichi.  In  the  latter's  service  he  must  have  re- 
sided some  time  at  Nara,  where  he  may  have  listened 
to  the  first  notes  of  the  great  bell,  and  witnessed  the 
erection  of  the  colossal  Buddha.  Late  in  life  he  re- 
turned to  his  province,  where  he  had  been  provided 
with  a  comfortable  post.  He  died  there  A.D.  737. 

His  fame,   at  first  overshadowed  by  that  of  the 
princely  and  imperial  poets  of  his  time,  continued  to 
grow   for  centuries   after   his  death.      Toward   the 
61 


Sunrise  Stories 

close  of  the  classic  period  his  songs,  distinguished  for 
their  natural  flow  of  feeling  and  their  original  and 
often  striking  imagery,  were  the  models  most  appre- 
ciated by  the  tasteful  but  less  gifted  writers  of  the 
day.  To  one  of  these  admirers,  Fujiwara  no  Kane- 
fusa,  more  celebrated  as  an  artist  than  as  a  poet,  Hito- 
maro  condescended  to  appear  in  a  dream,  and  the 
enthusiastic  disciple,  well  knowing  that  no  authentic 
likeness  existed,  painted  the  vision  from  memory  and 
presented  the  "  portrait  "  to  the  emperor.  Another 
enthusiast,  Akisuye,  obtained  permission  to  have 
a  copy  made  for  him,  and  instituted  a  yearly  festival 
in  its  honor  on  the  anniversary  of  Hitomaro's  death. 
Before  this,  legend  had  been  busy  with  the  scanty 
records  of  the  poet's  life.  It  was  fabled  that  he  was 
sprung  from  some  mikado  of  the  mythical  period ; 
and  that  when  found  by  his  foster-father  (a  common 
soldier)  under  a  persimmon-tree,  the  babe  lisped  in 
numbers  and  claimed  to  be  able,  by  song,  to  make  the 
winds  and  the  tides  move  at  his  pleasure.  The  em- 
peror, himself  an  admirer  of  Hitomaro,  and  perhaps 
influenced  by  this  legend,  when  he  heard  of  the  honors 
rendered  by  Akisuye,  set  aside  the  taxes  of  a  village 
to  defray  the  cost  of  a  more  imposing  annual  cere- 
mony, and  formally  recognized  the  poet  as  a  god.  A 
shrine  was  built  and  dedicated,  which  was  in  time 
replaced  by  the  fine  temple  at  Akashi  near  Kob6, 
62 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

where  his  worship  is  still  maintained  with  yearly  rites 
and  sacrifices. 

The  little  that  is  really  known  of  Hitomaro  is  de- 
rived from  the  notes  to  his  poems  in  the  "  Myriad 
Leaves. ' '  The  subject  of  the  following  lines  appears 
to  have  been  a  pretty  waitress  at  an  inn  in  Karu,  at 
that  time  a  noted  pleasure  resort  near  the  capital.  It 
is  a  pity  that  we  cannot  fancy  her,  like  her  successors 
of  to-day,  bringing  to  her  courtly  customer  seated 
under  the  wistarias,  a  tiny  porcelain  cup  of  fragrant 
tea;  for  neither  porcelain  nor  the  tea-shrub  had  as 
yet  been  introduced  into  Japan.  The  divine  Hitoma- 
ro's  august  tipple  was  doubtless  hot  rice  whiskey. 

THE   WELL-TROD    WAY    TO    KARU. 
HITOMARO. 

Oftener  had  I  gone 
The  well-trod  way  to  Karu, 

All  for  the  dear  sake 
Of  a  fair  maid  who  dwelt  there, 

But,  if  folk  had  seen 
Me  morning,  noon,  and  night  there, 

The  tale  had  spread  apace, 
For  many  a  friend  had  borne  it. 

So  I  hid  my  heart, 
Like  hermit  in  a  valley. 

"  Tendrils  of  the  vine 
Will  twine  again  when  parted," 

63 


Sunrise  Stories 

Thought  I.     But  my  love 
Fell  like  a  leaf  in  autumn — 

Sank  like  sun  at  eve, 
Or  moon  behind  a  cloud  bank. 

Ah  !  when  came  the  news, 
No  word  nor  motion  had  I, 

Till,  urged  by  despair, 
I  took  the  way  to  Karu. 

Once  more  I  passed  her  gate, 
But  heard  no  whispered  welcome  ; 

Nowhere  in  the  throng 
Saw  I  the  face  I  craved  for. 

Oh  !  then,  the  crowd  forgot, 
Her  treasured  name  escaped  me, 
As  I  my  sleeve  stood  waving. 

The  nature  of  the  indiscretion  into  which  grief  had 
led  our  poet  was  at  once  understood  by  his  contem- 
poraries, who  used  the  flowing  sleeve,  worn  by  both 
sexes,  to  express  their  emotions,  which  appear  to  have 
been  much  more  lively  with  the  ancient  Japanese 
than  with  their  descendants.  It  was  the  sleeve  that 
was  wet  with  tears,  "  like  the  rock  in  the  open  sea," 
when  the  wearer  gave  way  to  grief.  It  was  with  a 
wave  of  the  sleeve  that  friends  and  lovers  bade  one  an- 
other farewell  at  parting.  Hitomaro,  therefore,  could 
not  have  more  plainly  published  the  state  of  his 
heart.  But  we  need  not  suppose  that  flirtations  of  this 
sort  led  often  to  serious  love-making.  That  they 
64 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

were  lightly  begun,  the  subjoined  ode  shows;   and, 
no  doubt,  they  were  often  as  lightly  ended. 

RED    LACQUER    BRIDGE. 
ANON. 

O'er  Red  Lacquer  Bridge, 
Across  the  Katashiha, 

Goes  a  fair  maid  dressed 
All  in  blue  and  crimson. 

Alone  !     I  wish  I  knew 
If  she's  ever  lonely, 

And  where  she  lives  ;  but,  hold  ! 
I'll  ask  herself  to  tell  me. 

Nothing  great  is  to  be  expected  of  an  affair  begun 
in  that  fashion.  But  Hitomaro,  though  it  is  known 
that  he  had  left  behind  him  in  his  native  Iwaki  an- 
other mistress,  whom  he  also  celebrated  in  song,  was 
evidently  deeply  smitten  by  the  pretty  girl  of  Karu  ; 
and  it  may  have  been  she  who  caused  him  the  sleep- 
less night  described  in  one  of  the  most  admired  of 
his  short  odes. 

The  Yamadori,  or  mountain  pheasant,  it  may  be 
well  to  say,  is  noted  in  poetry  as  an  image  of  anxious 
affection  and  solicitude.  The  male  bird  is  said  to 
walk  slowly  to  and  fro,  dragging  its  long  wing-feath- 
ers as  if  wounded,  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
sportsman  when  its  nest  is  in  danger.  As  used  here 
65 


Sunrise  Stories 

it  is  to  suggest  that  in  the  long  night  hours  the  same 
moments  seem  to  return  over  and  over  again.  The 
word  here  translated  "  foot  -sore  "  is  the  "pivot 
word  "  of  the  original.  It  means  to  drag  the  feet,  to 
be  fatigued  ;  but,  as  applied  to  mountains  it  also  con- 
veys the  notion  of  the  long  succession  of  the  foot-hills. 

As  the  trailing  wings 
Of  the  wounded  pheasant 

On  the  foot-sore  hills, 
Pass  and  repass  the  moments 
Of  the  weary  vigil.  .. 

But  Hitomaro  had  possibly  other  causes  for  sleep- 
lessness. He  cannot  but  have  seen  at  Nara  that 
Buddhism,  along  with  many  benefits,  had  brought 
not  a  few  troubles  upon  the  country.  His  doubts 
seem  to  be  painted  in  his  little  picture  of  a  moonrise, 
which,  nevertheless,  is  nothing  but  a  succession  of 
images. 

GOOD   AND    EVIL. 
HITOMARO. 

O'er  yon  shadowy  Alp, 
Serene,  the  full  moon  rises. 

Rises  yon  dun  cloud, 
Upon  the  night- breeze  soaring, 
To  reach  and  overcast  it  ? 

In  fact,  in  Hitomaro's  day  the  cloud  had  already 
risen  that  was  to  overshadow  the  glories  of  Nara. 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Nara 

The  daughter  of  Shomu  and  his  consort,  Koken,  who 
became  empress  in  749,  was  born  in  716.  Once  on 
the  throne,  she  appears  to  have  set  out  deliberately  to 
copy  the  Empress  Jito.  After  a  reign  of  ten  years 
she  placed  on  the  throne  the  Emperor  Junnin,  only 
to  depose  him  a  few  years  later  and  exile  him  to  the 
island  of  Awaji,  where  he  was  killed  in  an  attempt  at 
escape.  During  her  second  reign,  her  relations  with 
certain  Buddhist  priests  caused  immense  scandal,  from 
which  both  religion  and  the  Court  suffered.  One  of 
her  favorites  she  wished  to  make  emperor  ;  but  these 
plans  were  balked,  and  threats  of  rebellion  brought 
the  empress  to  her  senses.  Still,  it  is  believed  that 
it  was  partly  on  this  account  that  Nara  was  deserted 
by  her  successor,  Kuanmu,  who  in  795  removed  the 
capital  to  the  neighboring  province  of  Yamashiro. 
The  poet  Sakimaro's  verses  on  the  occasion  give 
voice  to  the  regrets  of  the  inhabitants,  who  had  come 
to  look  upon  Nara  as  the  permanent  capital  of  the 
country. 

THE   LAMENT   FOR   NARA. 
SAKIMARO. 

Ne'er  has  Yamato 
Been  kingless  or  lawless 

Since  gods  came  from  heaven 
To  rule  in  her  borders. 

67 


Sunrise  Stories   ; 

Never,  so  deemed  we, 
Should  Nara  be  kingless 

While  ages  unnumbered 
Passed  over  her  dwellings. 

Spring  on  Mikasa 
Saw  cherry-trees  blooming, 

White,  where  the  mist  wreath 
Lay  dim  on  the  mountain. 

Autumn,  Ikoma 
Made  white  with  the  hoar  frost. 

And  heard  the  stag  belling 
In  flowering  copses. 

Would  that  forever 
The  hills  might  look  down  on 

Thy  broad  streets  laid  out  for 
Brave  warriors  to  dwell  in. 

Would  that  thy  glory 
Might,  lasting  as  heaven's, 

Fail  but  when  faileth 
The  frame  universal. 

But  Majesty  speaketh, 

And  Nara's  deserted. 
Men  flee  her  gates 

As  the  birds  flee  ere  winter. 
No  more  voice  of  herald 

Or  neighing  of  horses 
Resounds  in  the  streets 

Of  the  desolate  city. 


68 


VII 

SONGS  OF  TWO  CITIES— KIOTO 

No  great  statue  of  Buddha,  like  that  at  Nara,  pre- 
sided over  the  Emperor  Kuanmu's  City  of  Peace,  as 
he,  at  first,  called  his  new  capital.  Instead,  an  ef- 
figy of  a  full-armed  warrior  was  buried  in  a  hill  out- 
side the  walls,  to  act  as  protecting  deity.  This  cu- 
rious reversion  to  barbaric  usages  shows  that  Buddh- 
ism had  encountered  a  notable  check.  It  recovered, 
however,  and  its  priests  soon  regained  most  of  the 
power  that  they  had  enjoyed  in  civil  as  well  as  in  re- 
ligious matters.  The  new  city,  lying  in  a  fertile 
plain,  agreeably  watered  by  many  little  streams,  all 
running  into  the  Yodogawa,  the  outlet  of  Lake  Biwa, 
was,  in  time,  surrounded  by  a  complete  girdle  of 
monasteries  and  temples.  On  the  western  outskirts, 
not  far  from  the  palace,  lay  the  monastery  of  Omuro, 
which  became  a  favorite  place  of  retreat  for  descend- 
ants of  the  imperial  house.  Near  by  was  the  already 
ancient  temple  of  Koriuji,  founded  by  Shotoku 
Taishi.  A  little  farther  afield  was  the  great  temple  of 
Saga.  To  the  south  lay  the  temple  of  Toji,  where 
envoys  from  China  and  Korea  were  lodged,  and 
69 


Sunrise  Stories 

where  KobO  Daishi  preached  and  wrought  miracles. 
To  the  east  was  Kiomidzudera,  built  over  the  cas- 
cade where  the  goddess  of  Mercy  had  visited  the 
hermit  Enshin  in  his  hut.  Shotoku  Taishi's  pagoda, 
and  Kodaiji,  whose  Founder's  Hall  is  now  ceiled 
with  panels  from  Hideyoshi's  war -junk  and  his  wife's 
travelling-carriage,  lay  in  the  same  direction.  On 
the  hills  overlooking  Lake  Biwa  had  been  established, 
more  than  a  century  before,  the  famous  rival  monas- 
teries of  Miidera  and  Hieisan.  Literature,  which  had 
begun  to  show  symptoms  of  decline  toward  the  end  of 
the  Nara  period,  revived,  and  was  zealously  cultivated 
in  these  institutions  and  at  the  Court,  which  now  began 
to  form  itself  into  an  exclusive  and  over-refined  society, 
apart  from  the  more  active  elements  of  the  nation. 

The  invention  of  a  new  style  of  phonetic  writing 
(attributed  to  Kobo  Daishi)  made  it  possible  to  write 
Japanese  without  any  knowledge  of  either  the  spoken 
or  the  written  language  of  China.  Hence,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  continuations  of  the  national  chronicles, 
still  written  in  the  Chinese  manner,  an  abundant 
prose  literature  in  the  form  of  diaries,  "  mirror  his- 
tories/' that  is,  minute  and  faithful  records  of  every- 
day occurrences,  and  monogatari,  or  prose  romances, 
mostly  the  work  of  women,  began  to  appear. 

The  earliest  of  these  romances  were  built  up,  on 
the  system  already  described,  about  short  poetical 
70 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Kioto 

pieces  which  they  professed  to  explain.  Thus  the 
"  Romance  of  Ise,"  so  called  because  its  author  was 
daughter  of  a  governor  of  that  province,  is  simply  a 
more  or  less  fanciful  commentary  on  the  odes  of  the 
poet  Narihira,  relating  in  detail  the  adventures  which 
are  supposed  to  have  given  rise  to  the  poems.  The 
ode  itself  gradually  became  restricted  to  the  thirty- 
one  syllable  form,  and  lost  in  emotional  warmth,  but 
gained  in  point  and  brilliancy. 

What  the  "Myriad  Leaves"  is  to  the  poetry  of 
Nara,  the  "  Collection  of  Songs,  Old  and  New,"  is  to 
that  of  Kioto.  It  was  undertaken,  at  the  instance  of 
the  Emperor  Daigo,  by  the  poet  Tsurayuki  and  three 
assistants.  Tsurayuki 's  preface  is  of  considerably 
more  interest  than  his  own  poems,  in  which  he  rings 
without  end  the  changes  on  "snow  blossoms"  and 
"blossom  snow,"  "foam  blossoms,"  and  so  on. 
He  endeavored  to  classify  the  Japanese  odes  in  the 
categories  recognized  by  the  Chinese,  and,  more  suc- 
cessfully, to  characterize  shortly  the  peculiar  manner 
of  each  poet.  Narihira's  verse,  according  to  this  first 
of  Japanese  critics,  is  laden  with  meanings  which 
the  words  hardly  suffice  to  express.  It  is  like  a 
closed  blossom  that  holds  its  color  and  its  fragrance 
in  reserve  for  him  who  will  give  it  patient  attention. 
The  Lady  Komachi's  style  is  querulous  and  delicate, 
"  like  a  pretty  woman  worn  away  by  illness."  On 
71 


Sunrise  Stories 

the  other  hand,  the  devotion  to  verse  of  the  good 
Bishop  Henzeu  seems  to  him  but  an  artificial  flame 
for  a  mere  painted  image ;  and  Kuromochi,  a  famous 
poet  in  his  day,  is  rated  for  his  clumsy  archaisms  as 
a  "beggarly  fagot-gatherer,  resting  by  chance  under 
the  shadow  of  the  blossoms. ' ' 

The  modern  student  will  be  inclined  to  think  that 
the  qualities  for  which  Narihira  is  praised  are  common 
to  many  other  artificers  of  the  short  ode.  In  Chinese 
didactic  poetry  *  the  idea  is  first  suggested  vaguely, 
in  a  sort  of  prefatory  stanza,  by  some  pleasing  image 
frequently  drawn  from  natural  scenery,  and,  the  mind 
thus  prepared  to  receive  it,  the  moral,  which  is  every- 
thing to  the  practical  Chinese,  is  stated  in  plain  and 
vigorous  terms.  But  their  more  artistic  cousins 
elaborate  the  image  and  give  but  the  faintest  and 
politest  hint  of  a  moral  lesson.  And  in  number- 
less instances  the  aim  ot  the  poet  is,  like  that  of  the 
musician,  merely  to  induce  a  certain  mood  in  the 
hearer.  The  difference  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
elasticity  of  the  Japanese  mind,  which  more  easily 
reaches  the  plane  of  ideas  than  the  Chinese ;  and  to 
a  peculiar  dislike  of  what  is  superfluous  and  redun- 
dant. To  pass  lightly  and  quickly  from  point  to  point 
and  leave  the  reader  in  a  mood  to  dwell  upon  the 
subject,  seems  to  be  their  usual  aim.  In  the  sub- 
*  See  Dr.  Legge's  translation  of  the  Shih  King. 
72 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Kioto 

joined  ode  of  Narihira's,  the  poet  ironically  declares 
that  spring  would  be  indeed  delightful  if  there  were 
no  blossoms,  for  to  the  stress  of  production  he  as- 
cribes the  storms  and  rain  that  accompany  the  sea- 
son. The  reader  is  credited  with  penetration  enough 
to  discover  the  hidden  meaning,  which  is  that  the 
poet's  spring-time  would  also  have  to  be  deprived  of 
its  bloom,  if  aged  censors,  fond  of  quiet  and  deco- 
rum, had  to  be  satisfied. 

THE   SPRING   LIKE   ITS    POET. 

NARIHIRA. 

Charming  were  the  Spring, 
Unmarred  by  tears  or  tempests, 
If  the  flowers  ne'er  bloomed. 
Unfeared  were,  then,  its  coming  ; 
Its  going  unregretted. 

Henzeu,  whom  Tsurayuki  held  in  such  slight  es- 
teem, was  very  successful  in  this  way,  putting  a  ser- 
mon into  a  few  pleasant  verses.  That  he  also  had 
original  ideas  in  theology  is  certain,  if  our  interpre- 
tation of  his  ode  on  the  lotus  be  correct. 

GRACE   AND   GOOD -NATURE. 
HENZEU   SOZYO. 

Pure  as  pure  can  be, 
The  flower  of  the  lotus  ! 

Say  not,  fairer  shines 
The  dew  that  falls  from  Heaven, 
•  Into  its  open  chalice. 

73 


Sunrise  Stories 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  seize  the  elusive  thought 
which  these  little  pieces  denote  rather  than  express. 
Here  the  dew  signifies  supernatural  grace,  while  the 
lotus-flower,  springing  from  the  black  mud  of  the 
ditch,  is  a  perfect  symbol  of  natural  goodness  of 
heart  unaffected  by  evil  conditions,  which  the  Bishop 
appears  to  have  prized  as  highly.  Henzeu  was 
grandson  of  the  founder  of  Kioto.  His  ordination 
took  place  late  in  life,  and  his  son,  born  before  his 
entry  into  religion,  became  the  noted  abbot  and  poet, 
Sosei.  Some  of  the  best  effusions  of  the  latter  may 
compare  with  Herri ck's  for  delicate  and  kindly 
humor.  His  thoughts  run  mostly  on  his  garden  and 
his  convent.  The  chattering  of  those  "  little  monks," 
the  sparrows,  and  the  mischief  that  they  work  among 
the  flowers,  inspired  him  with  the  idea  of  reading  a 
lesson  to  those  under  his  charge,  who,  like  monks  and 
children  everywhere,  were  always  ready  to  lay  the 
blame  at  others'  doors  that  properly  belonged  to  them- 
selves. Accordingly,  in  remonstrating  with  the  cul- 
prits, he  is  really  conveying  a  sly  hint  to  his  bonzes. 

TO   THE    BIRDS   THAT   SCATTERED   THE   BLOSSOMS. 

SOSEI  HOSHI. 
Whom,  now,  so  noisily, 
Would  ye  incriminate  ? 
None  but  yourselves  it  was, 
Restlessly  fluttering, 
Shook  do-ivn  the  blossoms. 

74 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Kioto 

But  the  rough  -winds  work  even  worse  havoc  among 
the  plum-  and  cherry-trees  than  the  birds,  and,  in 
launching  anathemas  against  them,  the  brave  abbot 
imagines  himself  one  of  the  militant  saints  of  an  ear- 
lier age,  when  there  were  not  only  unruly  monks,  but 
blood-thirsty  bandits  also,  to  deal  with.  In  a  com- 
panion piece  to  the  last,  he  humorously  pictures  him- 
self a  valiant  champion  of  the  Church,  like  the  great 
Kobo  Daishi,  who  once  put  to  rout  the  brigands  that, 
in  his  day,  infested  the  environs  of  Kioto,  as  will  be 
told  in  another  chapter. 

ON    THE   WINDS    THAT   RAVISHED    THE    BLOSSOMS. 
SOSEI. 

What  wild  cave  hides  them, 
Robber  winds,  plunderers  ? 

Tell  me  !  I'll  face  them— 
And  lecture  them  soundly, 
For  raiding  my  garden. 

Though  the  thirty-one  syllable  ode  was  the  form 
preferred  by  most  of  the  poets  of  Kioto,*  the  Chinese 
style  of  versification  was  not  abandoned.  In  fact,  it 
was  more  than  ever  cultivated,  owing  to  the  acceler- 
ated influx  of  Buddhist  monks  driven  out  of  China 

*  In  some  of  the  imitations  here  given  the  crime,  unpardonable 
in  Japanese,  is  committed  of  making  the  stanza  consist  of  only 
twenty-eight  syllables. 

75 


Sunrise  Stories 

by  the  persecutions  of  the  Thang  emperors.  Forty- 
five  thousand  temples  and  monasteries  are  said  to 
have  been  destroyed  in  a  single  reign.  These  persecu- 
tions sent  many,  who  might  otherwise  have  chosen  a 
conventual  life,  into  the  wilds,  to  live  as  hermits. 
Sometimes,  keeping  together  in  little  bands,  they 
were  known  as  the  ' '  Friends  of  the  Bamboo  Grove. ' ' 
The  custom  was  extended  to  Japan,  and  we  may  as- 
sume that  this  kind  of  life  was  not  without  its  at- 
tractions. Its  praises  are  sung  by  the  bonze  ChizO, 
a  contemporary  of  Sosei : 

THE   LAND   OF   RIGHT   REASON. 
CHUZ5. 

Would  you  know  the  place  where  Reason  flourishes  ? 

Go  seek  it  in  the  Land  of  Humanity  and  Wisdom. 

There,  the  air  is  pure,  the  hills  and  the  streams  are  pleasant, 

Strong  is  the  breeze  and  laden  with  pleasant  odors. 

Now  the  small  birds'  nests  show  through  denuded  branches. 
The  wild-geese  on  their  pond  intone  their  chants  autumnal  ; 
The  Friends  to  the  Grove  retired  rejoice  in  the  changing  sea- 
sons 
And  reck  not  of  shifting  tides  of  men's  esteem  and  censure. 

There  is  a  legend,  often  illustrated  by  artists,  of  a 

Friend  who  became  an  out-and-out  recluse,  retiring  to 

a  small  island,  the  bridge  leading  to  which  he  vowed 

never  to  recross.     But  two  of  his  former  companions 

76 


Songs  of  Two  Cities — Kioto 

visiting  him,  engaged  him  in  a  conversation  which  he 
found  so  agreeable  that  he  unconsciously  prolonged 
his  walk  with  them  beyond  the  fateful  bridge.  Upon 
which  the  two  old  cocks  fell  a-laughing,  and  the  would- 
be  anchorite,  laughing  also,  returned  to  the  community. 
For  the  terror  of  the  wilderness  shown  in  the  an- 
cient stories,  Buddhism  had  succeeded  in  substituting 
a  feeling  of  intimacy  with  wild  nature.  Much  of  our 
modern  enjoyment  of  landscape  may  be  traced  to 
monachism.  In  Japan,  the  feeling  profoundly  influ- 
enced all  the  later  literature  and  art  of  the  country. 
The  majority  of  the  nation  were,  however,  as  yet, 
far  from  showing  this  love  of  retirement  and  of  wild- 
ness.  The  old  pagan  dislike  and  dread  of  solitude 
was  still  uppermost  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  now 
writing.  A  member  of  the  Minamoto  warrior  clan, 
whom  the  departure  of  his  comrades  to  winter  quar- 
ters had  left  alone  at  his  post  in  a  snow-bound  moun- 
tain village,  is  the  author  of  an  ode  which  may  serve 
as  a  contrast  to  ChizO. 

WINTER   SOLITUDE. 

MUNEYUKI. 
Hateful  is  this  life 
Cut  off  by  winter's  hosts,  in 

Lonely  hamlet  penned  ; 
Green  leaves  and  friendly  faces 
All  withered,  all  departed  ! 

77 


Sunrise  Stories 

Even  the  hermit  and  the  wanderer  by  choice  some- 
times found  that  they  paid  too  much  for  their  ad- 
vantages, as  appears  to  have  been  the  case  with  the 
anonymous  author  of  the  two  following  odes,  which 
appear  to  belong  together  : 

THE    EXILE. 

All  alone,  I  sang — 
'Til  sickness  came  upon  me, 

In  my  little  den, 
Wanned  with  a  stick  of  charcoal. 

Now  the  exile  fain 
Would  to  his  own  land  turn, 
But,  still,  the  wind  blows  onward. 

Pleasant  'twere  to  wake, 
Although  from  pleasant  slumber, 

With  the  joyous  sound, 
The  sound  of  water  rushing 

'Gainst  the  speedy  ship, 
To  see  the  bright  waves  pass, 
The  dear,  dark  hills  draw  nearer  ! 

But  a  lighter  and  more  cheerful  turn  of  mind,  and 
a  delight  in  natural  beauty  of  a  quiet  sort,  had  be- 
come general.  Narihira  might  see  portents  dire  in 
the  reflection  of  the  crimson  foliage  of  the  maples  in 
the  stream  swollen  by  autumn  floods,  and  be  re- 
minded of  Susanoo's  slaying  of  the  Dragon  : 
78 


Songs  of  Two  Cities— Kioto 

Tats'ta,  brimming:  full, 
Rolls  between  drenched  banks,  reddened 

As  though  with  slaughter  huge, 
A  grimmer  sight,  I  ween,  than 
Izumo's  bloodied  river. 

But  to  Michizane  the  maples  of  Mount  Tamuke  sug- 
gest but  a  novel  reason  for  not  paying  his  temple 
dues.  It  was  customary,  each  autumn,  to  bring 
offerings  of  figured  silks  to  the  Shinto  shrine  upon  the 
mountain,  which  was  celebrated  for  the  beauty  of  its 
maple  forests  at  that  season  ;  and  Michizane,  who 
was  too  honest  to  grow  rich,  hints  that  the  gods 
might  very  well  content  themselves  with  the  produc- 
tions of  nature's  loom. 

THE   MAPLES. 
SUGAWARA   NO   MICHIZANE. 

'Tis  hardly  for  poor  me 
To  bring  a  beggar's  gift,  when 

Tam'keyama  spreads 
Miles  of  red  maple  damask 
Before  the  glad  immortals. 

The  poet  is  now  himself  an  immortal,  having  been 
deified  by  an  admiring  people,  not,  like  Hitomaro, 
for  his  poetry,  nor  for  his  services  to  the  Empire  as  a 
statesman,  but  for  his  skill  in  calligraphy.  It  does 
not  appear  that  he  will  take  autumn  leaves  for  Kioto 
brocade  from  his  worshippers. 
79 


Sunrise  Stories 

The  taste  for  natural  beauty  had  already  led  to  a 
considerable  development  of  landscape-gardening. 
Monasteries  and  palaces  had  their  grounds  laid  out  in 
artful  imitation  of  natural  scenery.  Most  of  them 
had  their  "  Moon-gazing  arbors,"  where  enthusiasts 
often  passed  half  the  night  composing  verses  and  sip- 
ping sake.  To  this  custom  we  owe  some  verses  in 
the  Chinese  style  by  the  Emperor  Montoku,  which 
may  (not  inappropriately)  end  this  sketch  of  the 
poets  of  Kioto. 

THE   VOYAGE   OF    THE   MOON. 
MONTOKU   TENNO. 

A  sycamore  boat  on  a  sea  of  mist, 

The  moon  sails,  coasting  by  isles  of  amber  ; 

And  trembles,  now,  in  my  cup,  I  wist, 

And  now  stands  poised  o'er  my  leafy  chamber. 

The  shadows  break  on  the  wave,  afar, 

Cool  blows  the  breeze  from  the  forest,  yonder  ; 

And  forth,  convoyed  by  many  a  star, 
In  the  open  heaven,  she  goes — a  wonder  ! 


80 


VIII 


MONOGATARI 

TSURAYUKI,  who  edited  the  songs  of  old  Kioto, 
has  another  claim  to  recognition  as  author  of  a  serio- 
comic narrative  of  a  short  voyage,  which  has  never 
ceased  to  be  admired  as  a  model  of  classical  Japan- 
ese. Of  prose  compositions  of  its  kind,  the  "  Tosa 
Diary  "  is  first  both  in  point  of  date  and  of  merit. 
It  is  a  lively  account  of  a  tedious  journey.  The 
slow  progress  and  rough  accommodations  of  Lamb's 
"Old  Margate  Hoy"  were  as  steam  and  a  first- 
cabin  passage  to  those  that  Tsurayuki's  chartered 
junk  afforded.  The  delays  and  discomforts  of  the 
voyage  would  hardly  be  found  amusing  by  a  trav- 
eller of  to-day ;  but,  like  Horace  on  his  journey  to 
Brundusium,  our  author  was  competent  to  extract 
pleasure  out  of  misery,  and  wit  out  of  dulness. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  new  phonetic  characters, 

at  first  used  by  the  ladies  of  the  Court,  he  sets  up 

the  pretence  that  his  diary  is  written  by  a  woman. 

In  this  way  he  finds  occasion  to  praise  his  adminis- 

81 


Sunrise  Stories 

tration,  now  at  an  end,  of  the  affairs  of  the  province 
of  Tosa,  and  to  speak  of  himself  as  a  man  of  consider- 
able ability,  who  had  known  how  to  win  the  hearts 
of  his  people.  By  this  ingenious  mystification  he  is 
also  enabled  to  quote  his  own  poetry,  and,  in  general, 
to  advertise  his  good  qualities  of  mind,  heart,  and 
person.  To  strike  a  balance,  he  mentions,  with 
feminine  circumlocution,  that  on  his  taking  leave  of 
the  new  governor  appointed  to  succeed  him,  "their 
parting  utterances  were  exceedingly  amusing,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  both  were  somewhat  maudlin  from 
over-conviviality."  * 

The  journey  began,  nominally,  on  the  twenty- 
first  day  of  the  twelfth  month,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  But  all  of  the  next  day  was  taken  up  in 
praying  to  the  gods  for  a  safe  passage,  and  in  a  feast 
on  the  beach  at  which  everybody,  both  high  and 
low,  became  tipsy.  The  next  day  and  the  three 
following  were  spent  in  the  same  manner,  and  every- 
body belonging  to  the  ship,  even  to  the  children, 
roamed  unsteadily  about  the  beach,  their  feet  con- 
tinually making  the  sign  for  ten  (x).  In  the  midst 
of  this  disorder,  Tsurayuki's  little  daughter,  who  had 
made  the  outward  voyage  with  him,  died  suddenly, 
and  the  actual  separation  from  Tosa  was  saddened  by 

*  Log  of  a  Japanese  Journey.     By  Flora  Best   Harris.     Mead- 
ville.  Pa.     1891. 

82 


The  Voyage  Home  from  Tosa 

the  thought  that  she  would  never  again  behold  her 
home  at  the  capital,  where  she  was  born.  The 
brother  of  the  new  governor  and  some  friends,  gal- 
loping along  the  shore,  overtook  the  ship  on  the 
evening  of  the  first  day's  voyage,  and  all  went  ashore 
to  feast  and  compose  verses.  The  parting  speeches 
were  interminable.  The  guests  became  more  and 
more  emotional,  and  found  it  more  and  more  diffi- 
cult to  express  their  feelings  in  suitable  language. 
But  the  rude  sailors,  incapable  of  understanding  their 
state  of  mind  and  heart,  cut  matters  short,  and,  call- 
ing out  that  the  company  must  surely  have  drunk 
sufficiently,  and  that  they  must  take  advantage  of  the 
fair  wind  and  high  tide,  summoned  the  passengers 
aboard.  But  they  continued  to  sing  so  melodiously 
that  they  shook  the  dust  from  the  ceiling  of  the 
cabin,  and  the  clouds  in  heaven,  pausing  in  their 
course,  rocked  themselves  gently  to  and  fro,  in  time 
to  the  measure. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  day  they  put  into  a  port 
where  they  passed  New-Year's-Day  and  several  days 
thereafter.  The  people  of  the  place  brought  them 
presents  of  fresh  provisions,  which  put  them  in  a 
quandary,  for  they  had  nothing  on  board  with  which 
to  make  a  return.  So  well  victualled  were  they, 
nevertheless,  that  "  the  vulgar  crew  made  drums  of 
their  overfull  stomachs,  and  went  about  beating 

83 


Sunrise  Stories 

them,"  and  cut  such  other  grotesque  antics  that  the 
sea,  mother  of  monsters,  had  never  beheld  the  like. 
The  better-behaved  passengers,  guests  of  the  master 
of  the  vessel,  passed  their  time  in  moon-gazing  and 
composing  verses. 

On  the  ninth  day  of  the  New  Year,  the  friends 
who  had  been  following  them  along  the  shore  took 
leave  in  earnest,  and  the  ship  put  out  to  sea,  to  make 
the  passage  to  Awa.  That  night,  being  out  of  sight 
of  land,  the  women  and  children,  lying  in  the  hold, 
were  greatly  alarmed,  and  the  author,  in  his  assumed 
character,  feigns  to  have  shared  in  their  distress. 
But  the  sailors  kept  their  courage  up,  singing  comic 
songs,  and  toward  morning  they  got  into  harbor. 
There  they  stayed  a  day,  putting  to  sea  again  by 
moonlight,  while  the  passengers  slept.  The  thir- 
teenth day,  again  passed  in  harbor,  turning  out  fine, 
though  it  had  been  stormy  in  the  morning,  they 
went  ashore,  dressed  (that  is  to  say,  the  women)  in 
their  best  scarlet  robes,  which  they  had  not  dared  to 
wear  on  shipboard  for  fear  of  exciting  the  jealousy  of 
the  sea-gods. 

They  did  not  get  under  way  again  until  the  seven- 
teenth, when  they  rowed  out  by  morning  twilight, 
Tsurayuki  remarking  on  the  beauty  of  the  shifting 
tints  of  sky  and  sea  in  the  blended  light  of  dawn  and 
the  full  moon.  But,  just  after  daybreak,  a  black 
84 


The  Voyage  Home  from  Tosa 

cloud  came  up,  and  the  sailors  insisted  on  turning 
back.  A  snow-storm  that  lasted  for  several  days 
followed,  and  the  miserable  passengers  were  fain  to 
beguile  the  time  by  composing  verses  as  wretched  as 
their  condition. 

On  the  twenty-first,  the  numerous  vessels  detained 
by  the  storm  put  out  together,  looking  like  autumn 
leaves  strewn  over  the  face  of  the  ocean.  The  sight 
of  the  waves  breaking  on  some  rocks  in  the  distance, 
led  the  writer  (Tsurayuki  still  playing  the  part  of  a 
woman)  to  conjure  up  visions  of  shipwreck  and  pi- 
rates, and  all  sorts  of  ocean  perils.  In  mockery, 
doubtless,  of  some  well-known  effusion  of  the  sort,  he 
fancies  his  hair  turning  white  with  terror : 

Headman,  oh  !  headman 
Of  the  island,  out  yonder, 

Tell  me,  I  pray  you, 
If  my  hairs  be  the  whiter, 
Or  the  foam  on  the  billows  ? 

he  writes,  and  playfully  asks  the  skipper  to  deliver 
the  ode  to  the  person  addressed,  and  bring  back  an 
answer. 

The  fear  of  pirates  seems  to  have  spread  among  the 
crew,  and  prayers  were  offered  up  to  the  gods  and  to 
Buddha.  From  the  twenty-third  to  the  twenty-sixth 
the  vessel  was  in  some  port  of  the  province  of  Awa ; 
but,  getting  word  that  pirates  were  actually  planning 
85 


Sunrise  Stories 

to  seize  them,  they  set  sail  at  midnight.  Passing  a 
small  shrine,  situated  on  a  promontory,  bits  of  bright- 
colored  silks  were  scattered  on  the  waves,  as  offerings 
to  the  sea-gods.  An  old  woman  of  Awaji,  one  of 
the  passengers,  awakened  by  the  flapping  of  the  sails, 
composed  a  stanza  in  which  they  were  said  to  be 
clapping  their  hands  in  their  joy  at  being  hoisted. 
But  they  were  hauled  down  again  next  day,  and  the 
poor  passengers,  out  of  all  patience,  snapped  their 
fingers  in  disgust,  as  well  they  might,  and,  their 
poetic  vein  being  quite  exhausted,  were  driven  to 
take  refuge  in  sleep. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  second  month,  having 
crossed  the  strait  from  Awa,  they  reached  the  coast 
of  Izumi,  and,  the  wind  failing,  the  sailors  were 
obliged  to  drag  the  junk  along  the  shore  by  ropes. 
Even  this  slow  progress  they  were  soon  obliged  to 
relinquish  by  a  return  of  stormy  weather,  which  the 
sailors  attributed  to  some  caprice  of  the  god  of  Sumi- 
yoshi.  Silk  shreds  were  again  scattered  abroad,  but 
the  tempest  did  not  abate ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
waves  grew  higher  and  threatened  to  drive  the  vessel 
ashore.  It  was  plain  that  the  god  was  not  to  be 
appeased  except  by  the  sacrifice  of  something  of  more 
value.  In  this  emergency  the  author  threw  into  the 
sea  a  mirror,  an  object  which,  to  a  woman,  is  dearer 
than  one  of  her  eyes.  "  A  sorrowful  thing  it  was  to 
86 


The  Voyage  Home  from  Tosa 

do,"  but  the  sea  at  once  became  as  smooth  as  the 
polished  metal. 

It  was  on  the  sixth  that  they  entered  the  mouth  of 
the  Yodogawa;  but  now  the  shallows  in  the  river 
detained  them,  and  the  vessel  had  to  be  lightened. 
They  themselves  left  her  at  Yamazaki,  and  travelled 
the  remaining  five  miles  to  the  capital  by  the  more 
expeditious  bullock  cart.  Tsurayuki  noticed  that 
the  pictures  on  the  articles  for  sale  in  the  shops  were 
the  same  as  when  he  left.  It  was  night  when  he  en- 
tered Kioto,  after  having  been  fifty-four  days  in  mak- 
ing a  journey  of  less  than  two  hundred  miles.  His 
house  and  garden,  which  he  had  left  in  the  care  of  a 
neighbor,  were  in  ruins.  The  dismal  sight,  and  the 
thought  of  the  little  girl  who  was  born  in  the  place, 
and  whose  fate  it  was  never  to  return  there,  over- 
whelmed him  with  grief,  made  more  poignant  by  the 
indifference  of  his  shipmates,  who  now  left  him  with 
a  few  careless  expressions  of  sympathy.  In  his  de- 
jection he  records  the  intention  to  destroy  the  manu- 
script of  his  diary ;  but,  since  the  resolution  was  not 
carried  out,  we  are  perhaps  justified  in  regarding  it 
as  part  of  the  fiction  so  ingeniously  kept  up  through- 
out the  narrative. 

The  "Tosa  Nikki"  was  followed  by  a  multitude 
of  efforts  in  the  same  manner,  diaries  and  "mirror 
histories,"  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  antiquary  from 
87 


Sunrise  Stories 

i 

their  numerous  and  detailed  descriptions  of  ancient 
manners,  but  which  need  not  detain  us  from  a  con- 
sideration of  the  more  generally  interesting  mono- 
gatari. 

Various  forms  of  prose  narrative  are  included  under 
this  term,  but  in  all  an  element  of  fiction  is  openly 
admitted.  Some  of  the  more  celebrated  are  but 
artistically  embellished  biographies ;  others  are  fairy- 
tales; still  others  are  historical  romances,  in  which 
the  fiction  sometimes  serves  only  as  a  setting  for  au- 
thentic documents.  Written  as  a  rule  by  women, 
they  often  betray  the  slightness  of  the  hold  that  seri- 
ous continental  beliefs  had  obtained  on  the  minds  of 
their  authors  and  readers.  The  facts  of  contempo- 
rary life  and  history,  the  refinements  of  Chinese  light 
literature,  and  the  crudities  of  native  legend,  furnish 
the  matter  of  these  romances,  which  usually  display 
a  critical  and  ironical  turn  of  mind,  a  somewhat 
affected  appreciation  of  beauty,  and  a  very  real  dis- 
like of  being  bored  by  stock  phrases  and  situations 
known  in  advance. 

"The  Bamboo  Cutter,"*  the  most  ancient  of 
these  compositions,  is  referred  by  some  authorities  to 
the  first  half  of  the  ninth  century,  which  would  make 
it  antedate  Tsurayuki's  Diary  and  the  collection  of 
"  Songs,  Old  and  New."  It  is  a  fairy -story,  possibly 
*  Taketori  Monogatari. 


The  Voyage  Home  from  Tosa 

of  Chinese  origin,  but  told  in  a  spirit  of  raillery  that 
reminds  one  of  the  ' '  Moral  Tales  ' '  of  the  witty 
Count  Hamilton. 

An  old  bamboo-cutter,  who  had  finished  his  day's 
work  on  the  hills  near  Lake  Biwa,  and  tied  up  his 
fagot,  bethought  him  to  cut  an  extra  cane  to  serve 
for  a  staff  on  his  way  down  the  snow-clad  slopes  of 
the  mountain.  Astonished  to  see  light  streaming 
from  the  incision  made  by  his  knife,  he  carefully 
laid  open  the  hollow  joint  and  found  within  it  an 
infant  from  whose  tiny  body  came  the  supernatural 
radiance.  He  took  the  prodigy  home,  and  she  grew 
to  be  a  famous  beauty.  Suitors  came  from  all  direc- 
tions, and  even  from  the  Imperial  City.  But  not 
caring  to  accept  the  addresses  of  any  of  them,  the 
Bamboo  Maiden  set  them  impossible  tasks  to  per- 
form, pretending  that  her  object  was  to  test  the  sin- 
cerity of  their  professions.  One  soon  returned  with 
an  old  silver  cup,  gray  from  oxidation,  which  he  had 
bought  at  an  extravagant  price  from  a  Buddhist  monk 
as  the  legendary  vessel  that  he  had  been  required  to 
discover.  But  the  sharp-witted  maiden  immediately 
scoured  it,  and  brought  out  an  inscription  showing 
that  it  was  of  comparatively  modern  manufacture. 
Another  had  been  despatched  to  seek  an  enchanted 
island  where  grew  a  golden  tree  bearing  jewels  for 
fruit.  This  gentleman  came  back,  after  a  longer  in- 
89 


Sunrise  Stories 

terval,  with  a  moving  tale  of  shipwreck  and  disaster 
and  a  branch  which  he  had  had  made  by  a  jeweller 
in  Kioto.  His  golden  branch  had  not  the  requisite 
magic  virtues,  however,  and  a  sharp  cross-examina- 
tion developed  serious  flaws  in  his  story.  A  third, 
himself  deceived  by  a  merchant  into  buying  for  a 
great  price  a  blue-fox  skin,  said  to  be  uninflammable, 
saw  his  gift  consigned  to  the  flames,  where  it  per- 
ished in  an  instant ;  and  a  fourth,  the  only  suitor 
who  had  honestly  attempted  the  task  assigned  him, 
had  the  worst  luck  of  all,  for  he  fell  from  the  sheer 
rock  that  he  was  to  scale  and  broke  his  neck. 

The  fame  of  the  wise  but  dangerous  beauty  at  last 
reached  the  Emperor,  and  he  set  out  in  his  august 
bullock  cart  to  visit  her.  A  flame  at  once  sprang 
up  between  the  two ;  but  the  maiden  was  proof 
against  even  the  attractions  of  love  in  a  palace.  Hav- 
ing fulfilled  the  period  of  her  exile,  she  returned  to 
the  moon,  whence  she  had  come,  leaving  an  example 
of  obstinate  virtue,  which,  unfortunately,  is  "unap- 
proachable by  mortal  women." 

"The  Uninhabited  Forest"  is  a  collection  of 
tales  of  a  similar  kind,  ascribed  to  the  same  period. 
In  it  there  appear  talking  beasts,  and  a  magic  harp, 
and  a  mysterious  stranger  who  teaches  the  hero  the 
secrets  of  the  instrument.  The  wit  of  some  of  the 
tales  is  of  a  broader  character.  The  hero  of  Torikai- 
90 


The  Voyage  Home  from  Tosa 

baya  ("  What  if  I  Were  to  Change  Them  ?  ")  is  a  per- 
plexed father  who  brings  up  his  effeminate  son  as  a 
girl,  and  his  tomboy  daughter  as  a  boy,  with  results 
more  amusing  than  edifying.  There  is  a  strong  fam- 
ily likeness  between  these  early  tales  and  those  of  the 
"  Arabian  Nights,"  and  it  is  possible  that  some  of  the 
plots  may  have  made  their  way  to  Japan  from  Per- 
sia. But  in  their  present  dress  they  are  as  thoroughly 
Japanese  as  the  odes  of  the  "Myriad  Leaves."  As 
a  rule,  however  little  we  may  admire  the  conduct  of 
the  heroes  and  heroines,  their  adventures  are  related 
with  the  utmost  propriety  of  expression.  This 
is  pre-eminently  the  case  with  the  "Romance  of 
Genji,"  the  most  celebrated  of  them  all. 

Madame  Murasaki,  its  author,  was  of  the  Fujiwara 
family,  the  noblest,  after  the  Imperial  House,  in 
Japan.  While  serving  as  maid  of  honor  to  the  Em- 
press, she  was  commanded  to  write  an  interesting 
story  for  a  princess  who  had  been  sent  to  fill  the  place 
of  High  Priestess  at  the  shrine  of  Amaterasu  in  Ise. 
This  little  person — the  "  Sacred  Virgin  "  was  usually 
of  a  tender  age — had  exhausted  all  the  limited  stock 
of  fiction  then  in  existence,  and  had  written  to  her 
Majesty  to  procure  her  something  new.  The  subject 
of  Prince  Genji's  amatory  adventures  was  rather  a 
curious  choice  to  make  in  the  circumstances ;  but,  as 
we  have  said,  no  objection  can  be  taken  to  the 
91 


Sunrise  Stories 

author's  treatment  of  it.  Her  choice  of  a  retreat 
throws  a  still  more  curious  light  on  the  manners  of 
the  day,  for  she  retired  to  a  Buddhist  monastery  to 
write  her  romance,  and,  being  apparently  short  of 
parchment,  used  the  back  of  one  of  the  Sacred  Rolls, 
the  Mahaprajnaparamita,*  on  which  to  jot  down 
two  of  her  chapters.  The  identical  roll  which  she 
later  copied  out  to  replace  the  one  she  had  desecrated 
is  still  preserved  in  the  room  where  it  was  written,  at 
Ishiyamadera.  The  place  overlooks  the  narrows 
where  Lake  Biwa  issues  in  the  Yodogawa. 

Murasaki  had  advanced  ideas  of  the  utility  and 
importance  of  fiction,  and  her  work  may  almost  be 
spoken  of  as  "a  novel  with  a  purpose."  "His- 
tories, ' '  she  makes  her  hero  say,  ' '  are  but  dry  records 
of  events,  and  are  usually  partisan  and  one-sided ; 
but  romances  furnish  a  true  and  vivid  picture  of 
social  conditions.  They  are  fictions,  but  not  alto- 
gether ;  the  essential  thing  about  them  being  that 
their  authors,  not  pretending  to  historical  accuracy, 
are  at  liberty  to  put  before  us  only  what  is  best  in 
life,  when  their  object  is  to  display  the  good,  and  the 
most  comical  when  they  wish  to  amuse."  She  is 
credited  by  some  of  her  admirers  with  uncommon 
political  insight ;  but  her  understanding  of  politics  is 
that  of  most  of  her  sex,  who  believe  in  their  hearts 
*  Or,  rather,  the  Chinese  translation. 
93 


The  Voyage  Home  from  Tosa 

that  the  sole  object  of  human  society  is  to  support  a 
court.  She  had  the  good  sense  not  to  attempt  many 
male  characters,  and  those  she  has  introduced  are 
treated  frankly  from  the  feminine  point  of  view;  but 
her  sketches  of  the  women  who  succeed  one  another 
so  rapidly  in  the  affections  of  her  fickle  hero  are  alto- 
gether admirable.  The  book  begins  with  an  account 
of  the  hero's  birth  and  childhood,  which  we  pass 
over,  and  begin  with  the  chapter  celebrated  by  Sir 
Edwin  Arnold,  which  describes  a  conversation  be- 
tween Genji  and  his  intimates  one  rainy  night  in  the 
palace. 


93 


IX 
A  RAINY   NIGHT   ENTERTAINMENT 

THE  "  Splendid  Genji  "  was  the  son  of  the  Em- 
peror Seiwa,  little  mentioned  in  history,  who  reigned 
peacefully  from  A.D.  859  to  877.  Already,  at  this 
date,  the  more  powerful  of  the  noble  families  shared 
the  administrative  orifices  between  them,  and  had  es- 
tablished the  principle  that  no  member  of  the  Impe- 
rial house  should  take  an  active  part  in  affairs  ;  a  most 
convenient  rule  for  faineant  princes  and  ambitious 
subjects.  Genji's  mother  came  of  a  clan  which  could 
muster  but  few  adherents  ;  and,  as  a  pretender  to  the 
throne,  he  would  be  a  mere  pawn  in  the  game  played 
by  these  unscrupulous  intriguers.  For  this  reason, 
and  because  he  showed  signs  of  uncommon  talent,  his 
careful  father  cut  him  off  from  the  succession,  and, 
with  admirable  foresight,  had  him  married  at  a  very 
early  age,  and  solemnly  set  apart  to  found  a  new 
family.  In  the  main,  his  previsions  turned  out  to  be 
correct.  Genji,  though  on  the  surface  of  a  careless 
and  pleasure-loving  disposition,  showed  some  ability 
as  a  general,  and  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  political 
94 


A  Rainy  Night  Entertainment 

wire-pulling,  and  rose,  some  years  after  his  father's 
death,  to  be  the  actual  ruler,  as  regent,  of  the  Empire. 
Three  centuries  later  the  Gen,  or  Minamoto,  clan,  of 
which  he  is  regarded  as  the  founder,  furnished  to 
Japan  its  first  dynasty  of  hereditary  shoguns.  Mura- 
saki  portrays  her  hero  as  a  reckless  seeker  of  advent- 
ures, a  sort  of  Japanese  Don  Juan,  whose  numerous 
and  devoted  friends,  whose  good  luck,  patience,  and 
address  barely  suffice  to  bring  him  safely  through  the 
numerous  scrapes  in  which  he  involves  himself.  In 
one  of  her  best  chapters,  she  shows  him,  at  the  outset 
of  his  career,  surrounded  by  his  companions,  to  whose 
good  advice  he  turns  a  deaf  ear,  but  whose  question- 
able experiences  he  finds  highly  interesting.* 

It  was  a  stormy  night  in  May ;  the  Court  was  keep- 
ing a  fast ;  and  Genji  and  his  brother-in-law,  Chiujio, 
were  amusing  themselves  by  looking  over  old  letters 
in  the  former's  apartment  in  the  palace.  The  two 
were  fast  friends,  owing  in  good  part  to  the  fact  that 
they  were  in  very  much  the  same  situation  ;  each 
having  been  married,  for  reasons  of  state,  to  a  lady 
for  whom  he  felt  no  affection.  Chiujio,  older  than 
Genji,  and  freer  in  his  movements,  had  already  found 
means  of  distraction.  But  he  desired  that  his  penny- 
worth of  observation  might  be  of  service  to  his  sister's 

*  What  follows  is  much  condensed  A  few  details  necessary  to 
an  understanding  of  the  context  have  been  added. 

95 


Sunrise  Stories 

husband,  and  he  sometimes  made  his  company  bur- 
densome by  volunteering  good  advice,  based  on  his 
own  experience,  which,  however,  he  was  usually  dis- 
creet enough  to  keep  to  himself. 

"  Truly,"  said  he,  on  this  occasion,  as  he  returned 
the  letters  that  he  had  been  glancing  over,  "  perfec- 
tion is  hard  to  find  in  the  sex.  Every  woman  has  her 
failing,  and  pursuit,  even  when  successful,  but  leads 
to  disappointment. ' ' 

"  But,  at  least,  you  will  allow  to  each  of  them  a 
good  trait  or  two,"  suggested  Genji.  To  which  Chi- 
ujio  gallantly  replied  that  if  such  were  not  the  case 
no  one  would  ever  be  deceived  ;  and,  seeing  that 
Genji  was  more  than  usually  attentive,  he  went  on  to 
divide  all  womankind  into  classes,  and  to  demonstrate 
categorically  that  in  none  of  them  could  man  hope  to 
discover  the  ideal  object  of  his  desires.  "  Those  best 
favored,  and  of  the  highest  birth,"  he  remarked,  "are 
so  strictly  guarded  as  to  be  unavailable  as  subjects  of 
experiment  and  comparison.  The  low-born  and  ugly 
are  hardly  worth  the  trouble.  Thus  the  field  is  nar- 
rowed to  the  middle  class,  which,  indeed,  contains 
individuals  who  may,  for  a  time,  captivate  a  man's 
reason,  but  which,  in  the  nature  of  things,  can  really 
produce  only  middling  specimens." 

"Admirable,"  cried  Genji.  "But,  tell  me  this. 
In  which  of  your  three  divisions  would  you  put  the 
96 


A  Rainy  Night  Entertainment 

decayed  gentlewomen,  and  the  parvenues  ?  It  seems 
to  me  that,  from  different  points  of  view,  both  may 
appear  to  belong  to  the  highest." 

Chiujio  was  about  to  reply,  but,  just  at  this  point, 
the  sliding  screens  were  pushed  apart,  and  the  Master 
of  the  Horse  and  the  Secretary  to  the  Master  of  the 
Ceremonies  *  entered  the  room,  and  he  referred  the 
question  to  the  former. 

After  meditating  for  a  moment,  the  Master  of  the 
Horse  seated  himself  upon  a  cushion,  and  with  be- 
coming gravity  delivered  his  opinion.  "  Poor  gentle- 
women, and  those  newly  ennobled,  belong,"  said  he, 
"  to  Chiujio's  middle  class,  in  which  class,  too,  I 
would  include  the  daughters  of  deputy-governors  of 
provinces,  who  are  now  and  then  introduced  at  Court, 
and  are  frequently  not  without  attractions.  But,  as 
for  perfection,  if  found  at  all,  it  will  perhaps  be  in 
the  most  unlikely  conditions.  Within  some  ruinous 
enclosure,  choked  with  weeds,  and  forgotten  by  the 
world,"  he  opined,  "there  may  possibly  be  dis- 
covered a  charming  creature,  of  unimagined  beauty, 
refined  and  gentle,  an  accomplished  poetess  and 
musician.  But  then,  her  father  may  be  a  robust  and 
stern  old  man,  and  her  brothers  truculent  and  repul- 
sive bullies.  Still,  should  such  an  one  exist,  she 

*  Most  of  the  characters  in  the  book  are  spoken  of  by  their  titles, 
not  by  their  names. 

Q7 


Sunrise  Stories 

would,"  he  thought,  "  deserve  the  attention  of  all  but 
the  most  exalted  young  gentlemen." 

At  this,  Mr.  Secretary,  who  also  had  taken  a  seat 
by  the  lamp,  was  observed  to  change  countenance. 
In  fact,  he  imagined  that  he  detected  in  the  speech  a 
covert  allusion  to  his  own  pretty  sisters,  who  were 
suffered  by  him  to  vegetate  in  poverty.  Genji,  per- 
ceiving his  embarrassment,  and  divining  the  cause, 
set  him  at  ease  by  uttering  a  few  words  about  the  ex- 
traordinary conditions  attached  to  this  supposititious 
case ;  and  then,  seeing  that  the  speaker  was  prepar- 
ing to  launch  forth  upon  a  long  moral  discourse,  shut 
his  eyes  and  composed  himself  to  sleep. 

But  the  Master  of  the  Horse  was  now  mounted  upon 
his  hobby,  and  nothing  could  shake  him  off.  He 
gravely  pursued  his  course,  and  described  in  turn  the 
mock-modest  woman,  the  over-sentimental,  the  dull 
and  unsympathetic.  He  pictured  the  virago  who 
fiercely  berates  her  wretched  partner  for  some  fancied 
inconstancy,  and  her  rarer  opposite,  who  instead  of 
complaining  of  the  annoyances  to  which  a  thoughtless 
husband  may  have  subjected  her,  runs  away  to  the 
mountains,  or,  worse  yet,  to  a  convent,  where  she 
soon  learns  to  regret  the  world  she  has  left  behind. 

Carried  away  by  his  own  eloquence,  the  speaker, 
who  had  shortly  before  been  made  Doctor  of  Litera- 
ture, and  who  was  "  showing  off  his  fine  feathers," 


A  Rainy  Night  Entertainment 

announced  the  novel  principle  that,  in  women  as  in 
the  arts,  mere  cleverness,  fashionable  extravagance, 
and  display  should  not  be  accounted  admirable,  and, 
having  lost  himself  in  the  mazes  of  his  rhetoric,  sud- 
denly stopped  short.  To  cover  his  confusion,  he 
asked  permission  to  relate  an  adventure  of  his  own. 
Anticipating  assent,  he  moved  forward  his  cushion, 
and  Genji  opportunely  awoke* 

"At  a  time,"  began  the  Master  of  the  Horse, 
"  when  I  was  in  a  yet  more  humble  position  than  that 
which  I  now  unworthily  occupy,  I  loved  a  girl  who 
was  such  as  I  have  described — not  at  all  points  ad- 
mirable. For  that  excellent  reason,  coxcomb  that  I 
was,  I  did  not  think  of  her  as  a  life  companion,  but 
considered  my  intercourse  with  her  an  agreeable 
pastime,  which  I  was  free  to  vary  by  seeking  similar 
amusement  elsewhere.  She,  however,  was  of  a 
fiercely  jealous  temper,  which,  in  the  circumstances, 
I  could  not  but  regard  as  a  serious  blemish.  Still, 
she  was  so  devoted  to  me,  notwithstanding  my  pov- 
erty, that  I  forgave  her  everything.  In  time  I  be- 
came really  attached  to  her,  and  then,  instead  of 
mending  my  manners,  I  began  to  entertain  the  idea 
that  perhaps  she  might  be  cured  of  her  jealousy. 
Surely,  thought  I,  devoted  as  she  is,  if  I  pretend  to 
grow  cooler,  she  will  take  warning.  I  therefore  be- 
haved rather  worse  than  usual,  to  which  she  objected 
99 


Sunrise  Stories 

with  more  than  her  customary  warmth.  That  gave 
me  the  opportunity  that  I  had  desired,  and  I  read 
her  a  solemn  lecture  on  the  propriety  of  patience,  and 
followed  it  up  with  a  threat  never  again  to  see  her  if 
her  jealous  rages  continued.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
she  would  only  act  as  I  wished,  as  she  would  then  be 
perfection  itself,  I  could  not  think  of  straying  from 
her.  And,  as  my  circumstances  were  likely  to  im- 
prove, we  might  be  completely  happy. 

"  To  my  surprise,  this  just  and  reasonable  proposi- 
tion, the  result  of  much  careful  thought,  she  rejected 
with  indignation.  It  was  a  small  matter,  she  said,  to 
put  up  with  my  mean  condition ;  but  to  be  obliged 
to  wait  from  day  to  day  for  me  to  return  to  a  sense 
of  what  was  due  to  her  was  more  than  she  could 
longer  undertake  to  bear.  Few  words  were  best ;  if 
I  did  not  at  once  reform,  she  would  be  driven  to  the 
conclusion  that  we  had  better  part.  This  was  so  con- 
trary to  what  I  had  expected  and  desired,  that  it 
threw  me  into  a  fit  of  anger.  I  had  but  wished  to 
correct  her  one  great  failing,  I  declared,  and,  giving 
way  to  my  emotions,  I  overwhelmed  her  with  re- 
proaches. The  vixen  responded  by  flying  into  a  yet 
more  violent  passion ;  then,  becoming  quite  beside 
herself,  she  suddenly  seized  my  hand,  and,  before  I 
could  guess  her  intention,  bit  off  a  joint  of  my  little 
finger." 

IOO 


A  Rainy  Night  Entertainment 

Needless  to  say,  the  unlucky  Master  of  the  Horse 
gave  over  his  experiment.  He  left  his  too  vivacious 
charmer,  and,  though  he  afterward  made  an  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  to  reclaim  her,  he  contrived,  for  a 
time,  to  find  consolation  with  the  one  on  whose  ac- 
count she  had  given  way  to  such  a  regrettable  fit  of 
passion. 

"  My  second  flame,"  he  continued,  "was  a  poet- 
ess and  a  musician  of  talent,  both  gifts  that  I  appre- 
ciate highly.  Indeed,  I  may  say  she  was  no  ordinary 
person.  Still,  she  had  her  faults,  and  they  were  yet 
more  serious  than  those  of  my  first  love.  You  shall 
judge.  I  had  long  been  on  excellent  terms  with  her, 
and  was  becoming  a  little  careless,  when,  one  fine 
autumn  evening,  I  happened  to  be  driving  out  on  a 
visit  to  a  high  official,  and  was  joined  on  the  way  by 
a  young  nobleman  of  my  acquaintance.  The  youth 
confided  to  me  that  he  was  in  a  hurry,  for  '  it  would 
not  do  to  keep  a  lady  waiting.'  The  road  skirted  a 
park  in  which  was  her  residence,  and  an  ornamental 
lake  that  reflected  the  moonlight  shone  through  the 
embrasures  of  the  wall.  The  scene  was  one  which 
might  well  awaken  sentiment.  I  could  not  shut  my 
heart  against  its  seductions  ;  I  forgot  my  errand,  dis- 
mounted, and  entered  the  gateway.  Within,  in  a 
sort  of  portico,  my  young  friend  was  seated  on  a 
mat,  rapt  in  a  poetic  reverie.  His  eyes  were  raised 


Sunrise  Stories 

to  the  stars,  his  nostrils  inhaled  the  rich  perfume  of 
the  chrysanthemums  in  the  garden,  while  a  gentle 
breeze  caused  to  flutter  down  about  him  the  reddened 
leaves  of  the  maples.  I  might  have  been  miles  away ; 
he  was  unaware  of  my  presence.  I,  for  my  part, 
was  equally  lost  in  amazement  when,  taking  a  flute 
from  his  bosom,  he  began  to  play  the  air  of  a  love- 
song  with  which  I  had  good  reason  to  be  familiar. 
He  paused.  In  a  moment  the  air  was  taken  up  from 
a  distance  with  a  soft  strain  upon  the  koto,  so  admir- 
ably played  that  there  could  be  no  room  for  doubt  as 
to  the  performer. 

"Quitting  his  seat,  the  youngster  moved  forward 
with  an  air  of  mingled  timidity  and  assurance  that, 
somehow,  made  me  quite  angry,  stopping  every  now 
and  then  to  pluck  a  flower,  to  repeat  a  stanza,  or  to 
gaze,  like  one  entranced,  upon  the  moon  ;  while  the 
unseen  fair  one  exchanged  the  koto  for  a  more  seduc- 
tive instrument,  and  played  more  passionate,  more 
languorous  melodies.  At  last  he  disappeared  among 
the  shadows  of  the  garden,  like  a  spirit  in  a  dream. 
Well !  He  was  in  the  right  to  be  happy ;  she  was  an 
admirable  musician.  But  though  I,  too,  am  a  lover 
of  the  art,  I  derived  little  pleasure  from  it  on  that 
occasion.  I  can  conceive  that  one  might  still  keep 
up  a  flirtation  with  such  a  woman  if  she  were  one  of 
those  of  the  Court,  whom  we  have  seldom  an  oppor- 

102 


A  Rainy  Night  Entertainment 

tunity  to  meet  in  private ;  but,  even  in  that  case,  we 
should  not  regard  her  as  approaching  our  ideal. 

"Think,  then,"  he  continued,  "  how  little  reliance 
is  to  be  placed  in  women.  Either  they  are  too  jeal- 
ous, or  they  themselves  furnish  grounds  for  jealous 
suspicions.  Like  lotus  leaves  floating  before  the  wind, 
like  dew  on  the  lespedeza  blossom,  or  hailstones  among 
the  bamboo  grass,  they  delight  us  for  a  moment,  but 
their  charm  disappears  as  soon  as  they  are  touched. 
The  wisest  course  is  to  avoid  them  altogether.  If  you 
do  not  now  believe  me,  you  will  when  another  seven 
years  shall  have  passed  over  your  heads.  You  will 
then  know,  perhaps  but  too  well,  that  these  romantic 
escapades  of  youth  result  in  nothing  but  a  damaged 
reputation." 

Chiujio  nodded,  as  one  competent  to  bear  witness 
to  the  justice  of  the  speaker's  remarks ;  and  forgetting 
his  usual  caution,  volunteered  to  support  them  with  a 
story  of  his  own.  Nothing  could  have  more  delighted 
Genji,  who  had  in  vain  essayed  to  draw  him  out. 
But  he  had  not  proceeded  far  before  his  feelings  over- 
powered him,  and  he  utterly  broke  down.  In  his 
case  the  lady  had  been  neither  jealous  nor  fickle ;  she 
had  never  bit  his  finger  nor  listened  to  another  ad- 
mirer. In  fact,  she  had  shown  such  unfailing 
patience  with  his  irregularities  that  they  had  insen- 
sibly become  such  as  he  himself  could  not  excuse. 
103 


Sunrise  Stories 

At  last  she  had  sent  him  as  a  farewell  gift  a  bunch  of 
wild  pinks,  and  had  departed,  leaving  no  clew  by 
which  he  might  hope  to  discover  her.  When  he  had 
sufficiently  recovered  himself,  "Who,  indeed,  are  we 
to  select?"  he  sadly  asked.  "All  this  variety,  all 
this  perplexing  difficulty  of  choice  ;  and  yet,  it  seems 
to  be  inevitable  that,  whatever  choice  we  make,  it 
turns  out  for  the  worse.  Are  we,  then,  to  fix  our 
thoughts  upon  some  heavenly  goddess  ?  Alas  !  that, 
again,  were  only  superstitious  folly." 

A  general  outburst  of  laughter  greeted  this  last  ob- 
servation ;  and  the  Secretary  was  asked  to  relate 
something  in  his  turn.  He  was  loath  to  respond,  and 
had  to  be  spurred  on  by  repeated  solicitations  ;  but, 
when  he  had  finished — "Fie!  What  a  devil  of  a 
woman,"  cried  Genji ;  and,  snapping  their  fingers, 
the  company  unanimously  demanded  ' '  a  better 
story."  The  Secretary,  however,  had  no  other  to 
tell,  and  the  conversation  relapsed  into  generalities. 

While  the  rain  drummed  upon  the  tiles  and  plashed 
in  the  broad  gravelled  spaces  without,  the  trio  of  con- 
noisseurs decided  upon  the  accomplishments,  the  vir- 
tues, the  beauties  that  they  would  require  were  they 
called  upon  to  select  from  all  creation  the  most  perfect 
woman.  She  should  have  some  learning,  but  not 
enough  to  be  vain  of.  She  should  be  gentle,  but  not 
too  submissive.  She  should  be  able  to  turn  a  verse, 
104 


A  Rainy  Night  Entertainment 

but  should  not  be  constantly  scribbling  when  more 
important  matters  claim  her  attention.  Above  all, 
she  should  never,  like  the  Secretary's  strong-minded 
sweetheart,  assert  a  right  to  ignore  the  elementary 
rules  of  propriety.  Genji,  meanwhile,  occupied  him- 
self in  mentally  picturing  a  fair  creature  in  whom  all 
these  various  attributes  were  happily  united,  and  de- 
termined that,  as  soon  as  the  special  fast  was  over,  he 
would  begin  to  search  for  her  in  that  middle  class  of 
poor  gentlewomen,  parvenues,  and  daughters  of  dep- 
uty-governors, of  which  his  brother-in-law  and  the 
Master  of  the  Horse  had  spoken,  and  with  which  so 
far  he  had  had  little  or  no  acquaintance. 


105 


FURTHER  ADVENTURES  OF   PRINCE  GENJI 

A  FIRST  search  made  Genji  acquainted  with  a  lady 
who  repelled  all  his  advances  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave 
him  no  excuse  for  further  pursuit.  He  endeavored  to 
console  himself  with  the  reflection  that  he  would  out- 
live her  husband,  who  was  an  old  and  ugly  deputy- 
governor  ;  but  the  man  persisted  in  living,  survived 
Genji's  passion,  and  won  his  esteem.  He  was  more,  or, 
as  it  turned  out,  less  fortunate  in  another  quarter,  and 
got  in  the  way  of  driving  out  to  the  Rokujio  suburb 
to  visit  a  lady  who  had  a  magnificent  residence  there. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  it  occurred  to  him  that 
he  had  not  for  a  long  time  seen  his  old  nurse,  who, 
he  had  been  informed,  had  entered  upon  a  life  of  re- 
ligious retirement  in  her  son's  house,  in  the  vicinity. 
He  therefore  abandoned  his  projects  for  the  even- 
ing, and  turned  in  that  direction.  No  one  expecting 
him,  the  gate  was  closed,  and  it  was  some  time  before 
the  key  could  be  found.  Meanwhile,  Genji,  looking 
about  him  from  his  carriage,  saw  behind  the  lattices 
of  a  neighboring  dwelling  some  young  women  who 
106 


Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji 

were  evidently,  on  their  side,  observing  him.  The 
house  was  of  the  poorer  sort,  but  a  white-flowered 
convolvulus  grew  luxuriantly  over  the  trellis,  and 
beautified  the  squalid  place  with  its  blossoms.  Genji 
hummed  a  verse  of  an  old  song  : 

"  Tell  me,  traveller, 
What  flower  is't  that  blossoms 
Beside  you,  yonder  ?  " 

"  Sir,  it  is  the  evening  glory,"  replied  one  of  his 
attendants  ;  and  Genji  promptly  sent  the  man  to  ask 
for  some.  He  returned  with  a  fan  on  which  was  laid 
a  bunch  of  the  white  flowers ;  and  Koremitz,  the 
nurse's  son,  coming  at  the  moment  with  the  key,  the 
carriage  was  driven  into  the  court-yard. 

In  conversation  with  his  old  nurse,  Genji  forgot 
about  the  blossoms ;  but,  on  taking  leave,  he  remem- 
bered that  he  had  noticed  some  writing  on  the  fan 
that  had  been  sent  with  them,  and,  looking  at  it  in 
the  lamplight,  he  found  some  verses  in  a  delicate 
handwriting  traced  on  the  white  paper.  The  circum- 
stance surprised  him,  for  there  was  nothing  to  indi- 
cate that  the  house  was  inhabited  by  people  of  refine- 
ment. It  may  well  be,  thought  he,  that  here  lives  the 
ideal  fair  one  described  by  the  Master  of  the  Horse,  and 
he  sent  a  suitable  reply  by  Koremitz,  whom  he  com- 
missioned to  find  out  all  he  could  about  his  neighbors. 
107 


Sunrise  Stories 

Koremitz  was  zealous,  as  much  from  a  native  love 
of  intrigue  as  from  a  desire  to  please  Genji.  He  soon 
discovered  that  a  young  lady,  with  a  maid  and  a  little 
girl,  were  staying  at  the  house,  and  learned  something 
of  their  history.  He  told  Genji  (but  this  was  his  own 
invention)  that  they  were  often  visited  by  a  gentle- 
man; a  general  it  appeared;  and,  in  short,  from  one 
circumstance  and  another,  he  had  established  his  iden- 
tity, and  it  was  no  other  but  Chiujio.  ''What !  " 
cried  Genji,  "the  fellow  has  better  luck  than  he  de- 
serves ;  for,  plainly,  he  has  found  his  runaway  ;  "  and 
his  interest  in  the  case  was,  as  Koremitz  intended  it 
should  be,  greatly  increased.  He  began,  then,  taking 
the  most  elaborate  precautions  against  discovery 
(which  greatly  amused  the  sly  Koremitz)  to  pay  court 
to  the  lady,  and  soon  thought  he  had  reason  to 
felicitate  himself  upon  the  progress  he  was  making, 
never  dreaming,  all  the  while,  that  there  was  really 
no  Chiujio  in  the  way.  He  invariably  delayed  his 
visits  until  after  dark,  and  came  so  carefully  disguised 
that  everybody  about  the  place  knew  he  was  some 
great  personage.  But  they  humored  his  evident  de- 
sire to  remain  incognito,  being  satisfied  with  Kore- 
mitz's  assurances  that  he  was  a  young  gentleman  of 
means  and  position  who  was  not  yet  at  liberty  to 
choose  for  himself. 

But  the  very  fact  that  Chiujio  never  appeared  to 
1 08 


Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji 

trouble  him,  and  that  nobody  spied  upon  him  or  asked 
him  inconvenient  questions,  gave  rise  in  Genji's  mind 
to  more  extravagant  fears  of  detection.  There  was 
no  telling  when  he  might  run  against  his  rival,  who 
might  create  a  scandal,  or  wait  his  time  and  take  a 
sudden  vengeance.  Genji  was,  indeed,  so  careful 
to  preserve  appearances  that,  as  our  authoress  re- 
marks, "  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  accomplished 
anything  downright  marvellous  :  a  fact  which  would 
have  moved  to  scorn  the  heroes  of  earlier  romances. ' ' 
He  resolved,  then,  to  remove  Evening  Glory,  as  he 
called  her,  to  some  place  where  they  would  be  less 
open  to  observation. 

It  was  late  one  night  in  August  when  he  came  to 
carry  out  this  resolution.  The  moon  shone  through 
the  cracks  in  the  old  paper  screens  that  served  for 
walls  to  the  cottage.  The  neighboring  farmers  were 
already  up,  though  it  was  yet  long  before  dawn,  and 
were  talking  to  one  another  about  the  weather,  the 
crops,  and  the  markets  on  their  way  to  work.  From 
a  distance  came  the  noise  of  flails,  and  of  the  bleacher's 
mallet.  The  light  foliage  of  a  tuft  of  bamboos,  in 
the  space  before  the  door,  glistened  with  dew.  A 
cricket  was  singing  in  some  cranny,  and,  overhead,  a 
flock  of  wild-geese  was  heard  flying  past. 

These  unwonted   sights  and  sounds  so   impressed 
Genji,  to  whom  life  outside  the  palace  walls  was  an 
109 


Sunrise  Stories 

unopened  book,  and  the  girl,  in  her  cheap  purple 
dress,  looked  so  frail,  and  so  much  in  harmony  with 
her  surroundings,  that  he  thought  it  a  pity  to  take 
her  away.  "  Will  she  bear  transplanting  ?  "  he  asked 
himself.  But  she  had  consented  to  go  with  him,  and 
he  could  not  withdraw  from  the  arrangement.  The 
maid  was  to  go  with  them. 

They  were  getting  into  the  carriage,  when  an  old 
man  in  a  neighboring  hut  began  to  pray  aloud. 
"  What  can  he  be  praying  for?  "  asked  Genji ;  "his 
day  will  soon  be  over."  "  O  !  Divine  Guide  of  the 
Future, ' '  muttered  the  old  fellow,  invoking  Buddha  ; 
and  it  seemed  like  a  reply  to  his  question.  Genji  fell 
into  a  reverie  on  the  limitless  round  of  existences  that 
lies  before  us ;  but  the  incident  appeared  to  give  rise 
to  serious  reflections  on  the  part  of  his  fair  companion 
also,  and,  rousing  himself,  he  pressed  her  to  exchange 
vows  of  eternal  love  and  fidelity.  She,  however, 
could  not  be  stimulated  to  cheerfulness,  and  would 
give  no  promise. 

They  were  not  far  on  their  way  when  the  moon  set 
in  a  fog  which  had  risen  from  the  rice  fields  and  hid 
the  embankment  along  which  they  were  travelling. 
The  carriage  blinds  had  been  drawn  up,  and  their 
sleeves  were  wet  with  the  mist.  Genji  began  to  feel 
depressed  ;  and  the  girl  was  sunk  in  melancholy.  He 
plied  her  with  questions  as  to  her  past,  which  did  not 


Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji 

tend  to  raise  her  spirits,  but  the  contrary.  The 
only  answer  he  could  gain  was  a  verse  of  an  old  bal- 
lad, which  she  repeated  in  a  low  tone : 

"  Like  the  lonely  moon 
I  wander  o'er  the  mountains  ; 

Whether  true  or  false 
My  love  be,  now,  I  know  not, 
For  clouds  have  come  between  us." 

It  was  the  first  time  she  had  alluded  (so  Genji 
imagined)  to  Chiujio ;  and  he  pressed  her  no  further. 

The  steward,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  house  that 
Genji  had  selected,  had  received  no  notice  of  their 
coming.  The  few  domestics  were  asleep,  and  they 
could  get  nothing  but  rice  gruel  for  breakfast.  The 
place  was  encircled  by  gloomy  pine  woods;  the 
garden  had  been  suffered  to  grow  wild,  and  the  pond 
was  filled  with  weeds.  The  day  wore  away. 
Toward  evening  the  air  became  oppressively  still. 
Genji,  more  than  ever  distracted,  thought,  "  Now  the 
Emperor  is  asking  for  me  ;  now  the  Lady  of  Rokujio 
is  expecting  me;  could  she  know  where  I  am  and  in 
what  company,  how  furious  she  would  be  !  "  He 
grew  more  and  more  restless  and  apprehensive,  and 
the  girl  remained  "sad  as  the  weed  in  the  creek." 

Night  came  on,  and  Genji  fell  asleep  to  dream  of 
the  jealous  woman  of  Rokujio,  threatening  and  up- 


Sunrise  Stories 

braiding  him.  He  awoke  in  a  tremor,  with  a  feeling 
that  some  one  had  actually  entered  the  room.  He 
drew  his  sword,  and  called  the  maid.  Her  mistress's 
sleep  appeared  to  be  disturbed,  she  said :  she  was 
often  troubled  with  nightmare.  Genji  aroused  two 
of  his  men,  one  of  whom  went  to  procure  a  light, 
while  the  other  paced  through  the  corridors,  twang- 
ing his  bowstring  and  shouting  "  Look  out  for  fire  !  " 
to  scare  off  the  demon. 

Meanwhile  the  poor  girl  had  grown  rapidly  worse, 
and,  at  last,  had  sunk  into  unconsciousness.  Genji, 
to  whom  this  experience  was  totally  new,  could  think 
of  nothing  but  foxes  and  demons,  and  wished  that  a 
priest  were  by  to  exorcise  them.  He  sent  for  Kore- 
mitz  and  his  brother,  who  was  in  orders ;  but 
neither  came.  Suddenly  the  girl  grew  rigid;  and, 
at  the  same  moment,  the  figure  of  the  Lady  of  Roku- 
jio,  that  he  had  seen  in  his  dream,  passed  before  his 
eyes.  "Oh!"  he  cried,  "this  is  like  the  wicked 
phantoms  in  old  tales!"  He  took  the  girl's  hand 
and  called  to  her.  She  was  dead. 

Neither  Koremitz  nor  his  brother  had  yet  appeared. 
The  maid,  Ukon,  had  fallen  upon  the  mats,  crying ; 
and  Genji  began  to  fear  that  the  mysterious  apparition 
might  claim  her,  also,  as  a  victim.  The  night  was 
stormy.  The  wind  sighed  among  the  pines  and  made 
the  lamp  flicker ;  and  he  fancied  that  the  sliding 
112 


Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji 

screens  that  formed  the  walls  of  the  room  opened  and 
closed  of  themselves  to  admit  ghostly  visitors.  He 
was  sure  that  the  apparition  which  he  had  seen  was 
the  revengeful  double  of  his  other  mistress.  This 
sort  of  phantom,  he  had  been  told,  could  leave  the 
sleeping  body  to  which  it  belonged,  and  put  in  action 
malicious  thoughts  of  which  the  owner  was  scarcely 
conscious. 

Day,  at  last,  dawned,  and  Koremitz  arrived,  but 
without  the  priest,  who  had  returned  to  his  monas- 
tery. The  man  was  as  young  as  his  master,  and  as 
new  to  such  a  situation.  Between  them,  they  could 
contrive  no  better  than  to  take  the  corpse,  while  it 
was  yet  dusk,  and  without  awaking  the  steward  or 
his  family,  to  a  convent  in  the  mountain  close  by, 
where  the  nuns  were  accustomed  to  receive  the  dead, 
and  where  Koremitz  had  an  acquaintance  upon 
whom  he  could  rely.  This  Koremitz  undertook  to 
do  by  himself,  making  use  of  Genji's  carriage ;  he 
packed  his  master  off  home,  where  the  latter  denied 
himself  to  all  comers  on  the  plea  that  he  had  become 
"unclean"  by  unwittingly  passing  too  near  a  dead 
body. 

The   next   day  he  could  not  be  restrained   from 

proceeding  to  the  convent.     Koremitz  guided  him 

there,    by   an    unfrequented    path,    after    nightfall. 

They  forded  the  river  Kamo,  passed  the  lonely  grave- 

113 


Sunrise  Stories 

yard  of  Toribeno,  and  approached  the  convent,  which 
was  perched  on  a  steep  eminence  at  a  considerable 
height  above  the  plain.  A  few  lights  shone  dimly 
through  the  paper  walls,  which  made  the  place  look 
like  a  huge  lantern  lost  amid  the  trees  and  rocks. 
The  services  were  over  in  the  neighboring  temples, 
and  in  the  deep  stillness  they  could  hear  distinctly 
each  word  of  the  prayers  for  the  dead  which  a  female 
voice  was  repeating. 

It  was  Ukon  who  was  reading  beside  the  body  with 
her  back  to  the  lamp.  From  her  Genji  learned  the 
facts  of  Evening  Glory's  short  existence.  She  was 
daughter  of  a  general  who  had  squandered  his  fortune 
in  trying  to  advance  his  ambition.  After  his  death 
she  had  fallen  in  with  Chiujio ;  but  the  threats  which 
his  family  had  secretly  conveyed  to  her  alanned  her 
so  that  she  had  concealed  herself  from  him  where 
Genji  had  found  her.  So  much  Koremitz  had  been 
told ;  he  added  that  Chiujio  had  re-discovered  her 
in  order  to  inflame  Genji's  curiosity  and  incite  him 
to  rivalry.  Genji's  carriage  had  been  mistaken  for 
Chiujio's  by  the  maid  ;  hence  the  present  of  flowers. 
She  had  never  varied  in  her  affections,  and  had  re- 
garded Genji  only  as  a  friend  and  protector.  Her 
reticence  had  been  due  to  his  own  absurd  pre- 
cautions ;  he  had  not  seen  fit  to  discover  himself, 
and  she  but  imitated  his  reserve. 
114 


Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji 

There  was  about  this  time  at  Court  a  lively  maiden 
named  Tayu,  who  was  aware  of  Genji's  liking  for 
extraordinary  acquaintances,  and  who  had  a  friend, 
poor,  proud,  ugly,  timid,  and  unprotected,  to  whom 
the  prince's  favor,  could  she  gain  it  for  her,  might 
prove  a  beginning  of  good  fortune.  Tayu,  as  clever 
as  she  was  disinterested,  readily  excited  Genji's  curi- 
osity by  telling  him  of  the  Princess  Hitachi's  modest 
bearing,  her  skill  in  music  and  other  accomplish- 
ments, and  her  beauty,  which  appeared  all  the 
brighter  from  its  contrast  with  her  sad  condition. 
She  dwelt  alone  in  an  old  mansion  fast  falling  into 
decay,  in  the  midst  of  grounds  once  beautiful,  now 
wild  enough  to  be  the  abode  of  a  wood  devil. 
Newly  enriched  ex -governors,  anxious  to  cut  a  figure 
at  the  capital,  had  made  her  excellent  offers  for  the 
estate,  but  her  pride  would  not  suffer  her  to  part  with 
it.  Neither  would  she  sell  her  ancient  furniture, 
much  of  which  was  so  old  as  to  be  valuable  from  its 
rarity.  She  despised  as  lowborn  upstarts  the  fash- 
ionable people  who  tried  to  induce  her  to  sell  them 
her  treasures.  Her  only  visitor  was  her  brother,  an 
eccentric  old  priest,  as  poor  and  proud  as  herself; 
and  the  two  would  beguile  the  time  together  by  read- 
ing over  the  old  treatises,  the  ancient  romances,  and 
poems  with  which  her  mouldering  book-shelves  were 
stocked. 


Sunrise  Stories 

Here  was  a  romantic  case,  indeed  !  What  more 
could  a  professed  seeker  of  adventures  desire  ?  But 
the  termination  of  the  affair  with  Evening  Glory  was 
still  too  fresh  in  Genji's  mind  for  him  to  be  easily  led 
into  a  new  scrape  of  the  sort. 

The  artful  Tayu,  however,  was  not  discouraged. 
She  kept  on  sounding  her  friend's  praises  at  every 
opportunity,  and  when,  at  length,  Genji  expressed  a 
desire  to  see  the  princess,  began  to  throw  difficulties 
in  the  way  ;  but  when  he  seemed  willing  to  drop  the 
matter,  she  spurred  him  on  with  fresh  inducements. 
She  had  quite  as  much  trouble  with  her  princess, 
whose  consciousness  of  her  own  awkward  manners 
and  want  of  even  ordinary  attractions,  made  her  a 
peculiarly  difficult  subject  to  manage.  When,  at  last, 
the  two  were  brought  together,  Tayu  contrived  that 
her  friend's  shortcomings  should  not  be  too  obvious. 
Still,  it  was  long  before  she  could  prevail  upon 
Genji  to  go  a  second  time.  One  evening,  after  she 
had  been  teasing  him  to  no  purpose,  the  fancy  seized 
him  to  make  a  call  alone.  Snow  had  begun  to  fall, 
and  the  foolish  princess,  with  no  Tayu  to  guide  her, 
stepped  out  upon  the  balcony  to  watch  it.  Genji 
followed,  and  had  a  good  opportunity  to  notice  the 
defects  of  figure,  face,  and  carriage  which  Tayu,  on 
their  first  meeting,  had  skilfully  concealed.  She 
was,  indeed,  the  type  of  those  meagre  princesses  of 
1x6 


Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji 

Japanese  popular  art,  whose  long,  expressionless  faces 
are  ornamented  with  noses  of  startling  proportions 
tinged  at  the  extremity  with  pink.  Genji  mentally 
compared  this  feature  to  the  trunk  of  the  elephant  of 
Fugen,  *  which,  the  holy  books  say,  is  like  a  red 
lily.  Her  movements  were  stiff  and  constrained,  and 
her  tall  and  languid  figure  seemed  scarcely  able  to 
bear  the  weight  of  her  old-fashioned  garments  of  silk 
and  sable.  "  But  why  be  so  critical  ?  "  thought  he, 
' '  and  why  not  rather  seek  out  her  good  points  ? 
She  is  not  without  them.  It  cannot  be  denied,  for 
instance,  that  her  modesty  is  so  great  as  to  be  almost 
embarrassing. ' '  His  resentment  at  the  trick  that  had 
been  played  upon  him  gave  way  to  pity.  "  You  are 
a  lucky  girl,"  he  soliloquized  on  his  departure,  "  for, 
if  I  were  like  other  people,  I  should  have  little  sym- 
pathy for  you ;  ' '  and  he  determined  to  send  her,  at 
once,  workmen  to  put  the  place  in  repair,  brocade 
for  dresses,  and  some  rolls  of  cloth  for  her  servants. 
"I  must  see  to  it  also,"  thought  he,  "  that  an  allow- 
ance is  made  to  her  by  the  Emperor.  There  are 
many  less  deserving  recipients  of  his  bounty." 

In  this  mood,  a  wild  orange-tree  near  the  broken 

gate,  which  the  starved  porter  had  some  difficulty  in 

opening,  caught  his  eye.     It  was  laden  with  the  snow 

that  had  fallen  heavily  during  his  stay,  and  the  frail 

*  Samatabhadra,  a  disciple  of  Buddha. 

117 


Sunrise  Stories 

branches  threatened  to  break  beneath  the  weight. 
He  ordered  one  of  his  men  to  shake  it  off.  The 
motion  communicated  itself  to  the  branches  of  a  pine- 
tree  that  was  standing  by,  and  from  them  also  the 
snow  slid  off  "like  a  wave."  To  the  apt  reader, 
the  incident  conveys  a  moral.  Genji's  kindness  to 
the  ugly  princess  which  was  "  as  the  reflection  of  the 
starry  heavens  in  a  bowl  of  water,"  had  relieved  him 
in  like  manner  of  the  load  of  remorse  that  he  had  in- 
curred by  his  thoughtless  dealings  with  Chiujio's 
sweetheart,  and  showed  him  in  some  degree  worthy 
of  the  supreme  good  fortune  that  was  in  store  for  him. 
When  Tayu  took  him  in  hand,  he  was  but  just 
recovered  from  a  severe  illness  brought  on  by  his 
exposure  to  the  night-air  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit 
to  the  convent.  To  complete  his  cure,  a  famous 
hermit  of  Mount  Kurama,  who  was  said  to  be  more 
successful  than  others  in  casting  out  the  evil  spirits 
that  cause  disease,  was  sent  for.  But  he  excused 
himself  on  the  score  of  his  great  age,  being  now  too 
old  and  feeble  to  travel  to  Kioto.  The  prince,  there- 
fore, went  to  the  hermit,  and,  out  of  regard  for  the 
holy  man's  reputation,  which  might  suffer  if  he  failed 
to  effect  a  cure,  he  took  but  a  few  attendants  with 
him,  and  set  out  as  privately  as  possible.  Up  to 
this  time,  Genji  had  never  been  so  far  from  the  city, 
and  the  mountain  scenery  was  a  revelation  to  him. 
118 


Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji 

The  cherry-trees  were  still  in  bloom,  though  it  was 
past  their  flowering  season  in  the  capital.  They 
found  the  saint  in  his  cave  ;  he  received  them 
warmly,  and  gave  his  patient  a  talismanic  prescrip- 
tion to  swallow.  That  done,  Genji  enjoyed  the 
view  from  the  terrace  before  the  cave,  while  the  her- 
mit proceeded  with  his  exorcisms. 

The  scene  included  a  great  part  of  the  plain  as 
well  as  a  distant  view  of  the  city,  but  Genji  was  most 
attracted  by  a  pretty  cottage  on  the  side  of  the 
mountain,  a  little  below  where  he  stood.  It  was 
surrounded  by  a  picturesque  garden  in  which  a  lady 
and  a  little  girl  were  taking  the  air.  After  spending 
the  day  in  prayer,  the  hermit  desired  him  to  stay 
that  night  at  the  temple,  close  by,  and  be  further 
prayed  for.  To  this  Genji  assented,  but  the  evening 
was  long,  and  the  conversation  of  the  good  monks 
was  tedious ;  so,  making  some  excuse,  he  stole  out 
again,  and,  under  cover  of  the  increasing  darkness, 
took  a  nearer  view  of  the  cottage  and  its  garden.  A 
room  at  the  western  end  of  the  house  was  open  to 
the  air,  and  before  an  image  of  Buddha  a  nun  was 
reading  aloud  the  evening  service.  Though  appar- 
ently only  about  forty  years  of  age,  her  voice  trem- 
bled, and  she  looked  like  one  at  the  point  of  death. 
The  child  that  Genji  had  already  noticed  ran  in  and 
out,  and  the  nun  occasionally  interrupted  her  devo- 
119 


Sunrise  Stories 

tions  to  speak  to  her.  From  what  he  overheard  of 
their  talk  Genji  gathered  that  the  nun  was  anxious 
about  the  little  one's  future.  The  master  of  the 
house  who  was  a  priest  attached  to  the  temple,  came 
in  to  announce  that  he  had  just  heard  of  the  prince's 
arrival,  and  was  about  to  pay  his  respects  to  him  ;  so 
Genji,  determining  that  the  interview  should  not 
end  without  his  securing  an  invitation,  returned  as 
quickly  as  possible  to  the  monastery. 

The  priest  was  proud  to  conduct  him  back  again, 
and  to  show  him  all  the  windings  of  a  little  stream 
that  ran  through  his  garden,  now  lit  up  with  lanterns. 
The  good  man  talked  by  the  way  so  eloquently  of 
great  things  and  little,  that  he  touched  his  hearer's 
heart.  "  How  much  better  it  were  to  live  simply 
and  calmly  like  this  priest,  than  as  I  have  been  liv- 
ing," said  Genji  to  himself;  "  especially  if  I  had 
such  a  pretty  girl  as  I  have  seen  this  evening  to  edu- 
cate." He  had  unconsciously  hit  upon  the  only  way 
in  which  he  might  secure  his  ideal. 

The  priest  gave  him  some  account  of  the  little 
one's  parentage,  and  of  the  reasons  that  had  led  his 
sister,  the  nun,  to  take  charge  of  her.  In  brief,  her 
mother  was  dead,  and  her  father,  a  prominent  man 
at  Court,  was  both  unfit  and  disinclined  to  care  for 
her  properly.  Remembering  the  nun's  feeble  con- 
dition, Genji  thought  he  might  possibly  gain  posses- 

120 


Further  Adventures  of  Prince  Genji 

sion  of  the  child,  and  sounded  her  guardians  on  the 
matter ;  but  they  politely  declined  his  offers  of  pro- 
tection. He  felt,  however,  that  it  would  be  wrong 
to  permit  her  father  to  assume  authority  over  her. 
The  nun  dying,  some  weeks  later,  he  secretly  carried 
her  away.  In  the  young  Violet,  as  her  character  un- 
folded itself,  Genji  found  united  all  the  qualities  that 
he  had  admired,  or  the  lack  of  which  he  had  re- 
gretted in  so  many  others.  In  short,  she  grew  to  be 
the  ideal  woman  pronounced  undiscoverable  by  the 
philosophers,  his  friends.  As  the  name  of  this  para- 
gon is  the  same  as  the  author's,*  some  cynical  com- 
mentators have  supposed  that  in  Genji's  Violet  she 
has  presented  us  with  a  picture  of  her  own  perfections. 
Murasaki  does  not  quit  her  hero  at  this  point  in 
his  career.  The  great  length  of  her  romance  was, 
doubtless,  one  of  its  chief  recommendations  in  an  age 
of  few  books.  She  follows  Genji  in  his  voluntary 
exile  at  Suma,  made  necessary  by  many  indiscretions, 
of  which  his  abduction  of  the  young  Violet  was  the 
least;  and  in  his  triumphant  return  when,  his  first 
wife  having  died,  he  married  her ;  and  all  through 
his  later  life  of  ambition  and  public  usefulness.  His 
character,  as  she  draws  it,  is  consistently  inconsist- 
ent. Genji  is  clever,  but  vacillating ;  patient  in  mis- 
fortune, but  reckless  in  prosperity;  generous  to  his 
*  Murasaki  =  Violet. 


Sunrise  Stories 

friends  and  bearing  no  malice  against  his  enemies, 
yet  unjust  at  times  to  both  alike ;  open  to  high  in- 
fluences, yet  more  often  ruled  by  others  of  an  unwor- 
thy nature.  This  fidelity  to  real  life  is  shown  also 
in  her  sketches  of  other  characters,  in  the  pious  old 
gentleman  at  Akashi,  who  so  long  rejected  all  offers 
of  marriage  for  his  daughter  that  it  was  supposed  he 
expected  some  god  to  take  pity  on  her,  and  in  the 
cold  and  haughty  lady  Hollyhock,  and  the  vindictive 
lady  of  Rokujio  quarrelling  over  places  from  which 
to  view  a  court  procession.  It  is  what  gives  her 
work  its  lasting  value,  and  will  yet,  perhaps,  gain 
her  a  place  among  the  world's  greatest  female  writers. 


122 


XI 

HORRIFIC  EXPLOITS  OF  YORIMITSU 

A  POPULAR  tale,  as  distinct  from  myth  and  from 
literary  fiction,  cannot  arise  until  there  is  a  populace. 
Japan  does  not  appear  to  have  produced  anything  of 
the  sort  until  the  cultivated  society  of  the  Court  had 
become  widely  separated  from  the  mass  of  settled  and 
more  or  less  intelligent  citizens.  At  Nara  the  entire 
population  seems  to  have  held  practically  the  same 
beliefs,  prejudices,  and  opinions,  to  have  been  ani- 
mated by  the  same  sentiments,  and  possessed  of  the 
same  tastes.  As  yet,  citizen  and  courtier  were  al- 
most convertible  terms,  and  no  general  fusion  of  the 
dominant  race  with  the  aborigines  had  occurred.  In 
the  literature  of  Kioto  we  find  for  the  first  time  fre- 
quent references  to  class  distinctions,  and  expressions 
of  surprise  at  any  appearance  of  refinement  in  the 
lower  grades  of  society.  But  by  the  end  of  the  tenth 
century  the  people  had  begun  to  form  a  literature  of 
their  own,  which  continued  slowly  to  develop  as  that 
of  the  Court  sank  into  decay.  A  few  of  the  earlier 
folk-tales  have  survived,  loaded  with  many  additions, 
123 


Sunrise  Stories 

but  unchanged  in  essence.  The  most  celebrated  of 
these  has  for  its  hero  Yorimitsu  of  the  Minamoto,  a 
descendant  of  Genji  and  contemporary  of  Madame 
Murasaki.  It  exhibits  a  vulgar  ideal  whose  elements 
are  derived,  indeed,  from  the  more  grewsome  of  the 
ancient  myths,  from  Buddhist  legends,  and  the  more 
artistic  fictions  that  amused  the  Court,  but  which  on 
the  whole  differs  greatly  from  anything  that  appears 
in  them.  There  is  in  it  no  effort  to  make  fable  sub- 
serve a  serious  purpose ;  no  ironical  criticism  of  cur- 
rent beliefs  and  assumptions.  The  story  is  told  for 
pure  delight  in  the  grotesque.  The  hero  is  known 
to  have  been  employed  by  the  Emperor  Murakami,  in 
A.D.  947,  to  exterminate  a  powerful  band  of  brigands 
who  had  their  headquarters  in  the  wooded  and  moun- 
tainous province  of  Tamba,  not  far  from  the  capital. 
On  this  fact  the  principal  legend  connected  with  him 
is  founded.  But  like  many  of  our  heroes  of  chivalry, 
Yorimitsu  is  but  a  shadowy  figure,  who  generally 
remains  in  the  background  while  one  or  other  of 
his  four  squires  performs  deeds  of  desperate  valor  in 
the  foreground.  Each  of  these  is,  or  has  been,  the 
centre  of  a  group  of  legends ;  and  we  hear  of  Kintoki 
as  a  boy  in  the  forest  of  Ashigara  amusing  himself  by 
pulling  a  fat  bear  about  by  the  tail ;  and  of  Tsuna  how 
he  once  delivered  his  chief  out  of  the  toils  of  a  demon 
spider.  Of  Suyetada  and  Sadamichi  we  hear  com- 
124 


Horrific  Exploits  of  Yorimitsu 

paratively  little.  Tsuna  has  evidently  been  the  favor- 
ite with  the  story-tellers,  and  has  succeeded  to  most 
of  the  tales  invented  for  the  others.  The  legend  of 
the  spider  betrays  a  singular  and  refined  taste  in  the 
horrific  that  would  charm  z.  fin-de-siecle  story-teller. 

It  happened  on  a  day  that  master  and  man — Yori- 
mitsu and  Tsuna — were  riding  across  the  moor  of 
Rendai,  thinking,  belike,  of  nothing,  when  they  sud- 
denly became  aware  of  a  small  white  cloud  floating  in 
the  azure  sky  above  them.  Now,  it  is  nothing  un- 
common to  see  a  single  cloud  in  a  clear  summer  sky  ; 
but  this  one  had  features  that  might  well  attract  the 
notice  of  a  knight-errant  and  his  squire  out  of  a  job. 
Two  shadowy  cavities,  like  empty  eye-sockets,  opened 
below  its  domed  and  glistening  summit.  Two  other 
openings  appeared  close  together  beneath,  and  under 
these  depended  a  fringe  of  shining  cloudlets  that 
looked  exactly  like  a  row  of  teeth.  In  short,  it  was 
as  well-shaped  a  death's  head  as  was  ever  carved  in 
ivory  or  drawn  upon  a  Buddhist  scroll.  To  go  where 
glory  led  them  was  the  sole  aim  in  life  of  our  two 
heroes.  They  lost  not  a  moment  in  changing  their 
course  and  following  the  promising  token.  Toward 
evening  it  brought  them  to  a  ruined  habitation,  sur- 
rounded by  many  leagues  of  moor  and  fen,  and  above 
the  lonely  house  it  melted  out  in  air.  Tsuna  knocked. 
In  answer  to  his  summons,  there  hobbled  out  an  old, 
125 


Sunrise  Stories 

old  woman — so  old  that  she  was  obliged  to  prop  her 
drooping  eyelid  with  her  staff  to  take  a  look  at  them, 
and  then  to  support  her  pendant  lip  in  the  same  fash- 
ion ere  she  could  mumble  forth  a  welcome.  But, 
though  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  she 
spoke,  the  old  lady  hardly  needed  an  invitation  to  tell 
her  tale. 

"  Here,  in  this  house,"  she  said,"  I  have  served 
five  generations  of  a  great  family  long  since  extinct. 
Oh  !  I  have  seen  many  changes  in  my  time,  and  this 
was  once  a  resplendent  mansion,  where  heroes  like 
yourselves  were  sure  of  a  hospitable  welcome.  Now, 
for  these  many  years,  no  one  has  come  this  way  but 
demons,  who  make  the  ruin  their  half-way  house  in 
their  nightly  journeys  across  the  waste.  I  doubt  not 
that  some  god  has  sent  the  token  that  you  have  fol- 
lowed, in  order  that  ye,  brave  gentlemen,  may  rid  the 
world  of  the  monsters  that  have  depopulated  the  dis- 
trict, and  enable  this  poor  old  woman  to  end  her  days 
in  peace." 

Yorimitsu,  on  hearing  this,  instantly  dismounted. 
Tsuna  had  already  done  so.  Demons  were  their 
game ;  so  they  hobbled  their  horses  at  some  distance, 
and  let  the  old  woman  lead  them  to  the  kitchen,  the 
only  room  that  was  in  tolerable  repair.  Here  they 
took  up  their  quarters  for  the  night,  and  awaited  what 
fate  might  send  them  in  the  way  of  an  adventure. 
126 


Horrific  Exploits  of  Yorimitsu 

Scarcely  had  they  made  themselves  comfortable  when 
night  came  suddenly  with  a  storm  of  wind  and  rain  ; 
and  soon,  to  the  distant  drumming  of  the  thunder, 
they  heard  as  it  were  the  tramping  of  a  countless  army 
marching  through  the  dark.  A  goblin  army :  bat- 
talions of  reanimated  corpses ;  brigades  of  skeletons ; 
legions  of  murdered  men.  All  night  it  denied  before 
the  ruin  to  the  music  of  the  storm ;  but  the  Knight 
and  Squire  kept  their  post  undaunted. 

The  thing  had  grown  monotonous,  and  they  had 
begun  to  consider  the  chances  of  a  sortie,  when  toward 
morning,  a  spirit  left  the  ranks  and  came  toward 
them.  It  was  attired  like  a  nun,  but  its  diminutive 
body  carried  a  head  of  enormous  size,  and  two  long, 
white,  thread-like  arms.  Yorimitsu  and  Tsuna  put 
themselves  in  a  posture  of  defence,  but  the  goblin  only 
laughed  at  them  and  vanished.  At  the  same  time,  the 
rearguard  of  the  demon  army  swept  by ;  the  storm 
was  dying  out  in  the  distance  ;  and  our  two  adventu- 
rers, believing  their  trial  over,  prepared  for  sleep. 

But  now  appeared  another  spectre,  not  a  bit  re- 
pulsive or  alarming ;  beautiful,  on  the  contrary,  as 
a  dream.  A  dream  it,  in  fact,  appeared  to  both  of 
them,  especially  to  Yorimitsu,  whose  eyes  closed  upon 
the  delightful  vision  as  it  floated  softly  toward  them. 
But  the  prudent  Tsuna,  though  sorely  tempted  to  fol- 
low his  example,  roused  himself,  and  saw,  out  of  the 
127 


Sunrise  Stories 

corner  of  an  eye,  the  lovely  apparition  transform  it- 
self into  a  huge  spider,  which  proceeded  with  un- 
imaginable celerity  to  weave  a  web  of  steel  about  his 
sleeping  master.  One  does  not,  when  confronted 
with  such  a  sight,  ask  one's  self  or  others  what  it  may  ( 
possibly  mean ;  Tsuna  whipped  out  his  sword  and 
hacked  away  at  the  meshes.  Yorimitsu  awoke,  and 
with  a  lucky  blow,  wounded  the  monster.  It  disap- 
peared, but  left  a  trail  of  white  blood  behind  it,  fol- 
lowing which  across  the  threshold  and  out  into  the 
moor,  they  came  to  the  creature's  den,  where  it 
writhed  its  jointed  legs  convulsively  over  a  heap  of 
human  bones ;  and,  even  while  they  looked,  from  a 
tremendous  wound  in  the  abdomen,  the  work  of 
Yorimitsu's  sabre,  there  rolled  out  a  ghastly  mass  of 
skulls.  Then  the  cocks  crew  in  farms  far  away,  the 
sun  rose,  and  our  two  heroes  sought  the  ancient  dame 
to  bid  her  farewell.  She  was  nowhere  to  be  found, 
however,  and  with  dark  surmises  that  she  might  have 
been  herself  the  goblin,  the  two  resumed  their  journey. 

It  was  the  same  Tsuna  who,  according  to  the  story- 
tellers and  the  blind  shampooers,  had  the  fight  with 
the  ogre  at  the  gate  called  Rashomon,  in  Kioto,  which 
cut  out  work  for  all  the  four  squires  and  their  chief, 
and  led  to  the  greatest  of  their  exploits. 

In  the  province  of  Omi,  which  runs  as  a  border 
128 


Horrific  Exploits  of  Yorimitsu 

about  Lake  Biwa,  there  had  lived  a  very  handsome 
but  dissipated  fellow  whose  robberies  and  misdeeds 
of  all  sorts  grew  to  be  intolerable,  so  that  his  father- 
in-law  was  forced  to  put  an  end  to  him.  He  left  a  son, 
who,  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  crawl,  began  where 
his  worthy  father  had  left  off.  He  manifested,  while 
still  an  infant,  a  tremendous  capacity  for  drinking 
sake,  and  displayed  thereafter  such  a  villainous  spirit 
that  his  mother  took  him,  at  seven  years  old,  and  lost 
him  in  the  forest  of  Higashi.  The  youngster  made 
himself  quite  at  home  there,  and  did  not  lack  for 
nurses.  The  tengu,  wild  creatures  with  beak -like 
noses,  dwelling  in  nests,  and  provided  with  wings  and 
claws,  were  delighted  to  take  charge  of  him  ;  and  he 
daily  grew  in  strength  and  villainy  to  the  admiration 
of  all  the  ogres,  wood-spirits,  and  outlaws  lurking  in 
the  wilderness.  Admitted  to  their  society,  he  became 
in  a  short  time  their  leader,  plundering  the  villages 
all  about,  and  terrorizing  the  country.  Driven  from 
mountain  to  mountain  by  the  guardian  gods,  the  band 
at  length  settled  for  a  while  at  Nishigata  near  Kioto. 
But,  unluckily  for  them,  Saint  Kobo  Daishi,  then 
just  returned  from  his  studies  in  China,  had  been 
commissioned  by  the  Empress  to  build  his  monastery 
there.*  The  ogres  at  first  attempted  to  oppose  him. 
They  caused  big  trees  to  spring  up  over  night  in  the 
*  This  is  an  anachronism,  as  Kobo  Daishi  died  in  834. 
129 


Sunrise  Stories 

ground  that  he  had  cleared  during  the  day.  But 
the  holy  man  prayed  to  Buddha,  and  the  trees  van- 
ished. Forced  to  migrate  once  more,  the  band  re- 
tired to  the  mountains  of  Tamba,  where  they  forti- 
fied the  approaches  to  their  cave  and  recommenced 
their  depredations. 

By  degrees  they  grew  so  bold  as  to  enter  by  night 
the  streets  of  the  Imperial  City,  and  carry  off  young 
women  and  rob  belated  pedestrians.  None  knew 
how  they  gained  admittance.  The  guards  appeared 
to  be  vigilant,  and  every  measure  was  taken  for  se- 
curity ;  but  the  brigands  continued  their  attacks,  and 
the  people  became  afraid  to  leave  their  houses  after 
nightfall.  So  matters  stood  when  Yorimitsu  came  to 
pay  his  respects  to  the  new  Emperor.  His  four 
squires  accompanied  him  as  usual,  and  Tsuna,  hear- 
ing of  the  doings  of  the  ogres,  determined  in  his 
heart  that  he  would  have  a  brush  with  them.  So  he 
asked  and  obtained  permission  to  keep  watch  at  the 
south  gate,  the  farthest  from  the  palace,  near  which 
most  of  the  crimes  that  had  so  alarmed  the  citizens 
had  been  committed.  At  the  usual  hour  for  chang- 
ing watch  he  took  up  his  post  in  the  guard-house. 
Nothing  happened  until  about  midnight,  when  he 
was  aware  of  a  strange  drowsiness  stealing  over  him. 
As  it  grew  upon  him  the  wind  blew  up  furiously, 
and,  nine  parts  asleep,  he  felt  himself  being  lifted 
130 


Horrific  Exploits  of  Yorimitsu 

bodily  into  the  air  by  the  top-knot.  Notwithstand- 
ing, the  drowsy  feeling  gained  on  him  so  that  he  had 
great  difficulty  in  shaking  it  off.  Making  a  supreme 
effort,  he  succeeded  in  drawing  his  long  sword,  and 
striking  blindly,  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  lop  off  his 
captor's  arm  clean  from  the  shoulder.  He  and  the 
arm  fell  to  the  ground  together.  The  ogre  fled 
howling  through  the  storm,  and,  for  that  night,  Kioto 
slept  in  peace. 

Following  the  advice  of  a  wise  old  priest,  well 
versed  in  demonology,  Tsuna  enclosed  the  frightful 
trophy  in  a  stone  coffer  securely  locked,  while  for 
seven  days  and  seven  nights  he  propitiated  the  gods, 
to  whom  the  ogre  might  be  related,  by  fasting  and 
prayer,  in  strict  silence  and  seclusion.  He  had  al- 
most accomplished  his  penance  when,  on  the  seventh 
night,  there  came  a  knocking  at  the  door.  "  Who  is 
it  ?  "  cried  Tsuna.  ''It  is  your  poor  old  mother,"  re- 
plied a  voice  without.  "I  have  heard  of  your  fine 
deed  of  arms,  and  have  come  to  congratulate  you. 
Pray  let  me  in."  Tsuna  explained  the  necessity  he 
was  under  of  finishing  his  vigil  in  silence  and  alone ; 
but  the  old  mother  continued  her  entreaties.  He 
could  not  find  it  in  his  heart  to  turn  her  away  after 
her  long  journey. 

Soon  as  admitted,  however,  she  began  to  show  her- 
self extremely  curious  about  the  arm  in  the  box. 


Sunrise  Stories 

"  Was  it  real?  Was  it  actually  there  ?  "  She  had 
often  heard  of  such  matters,  but,  old  woman  as  she 
was,  she  had  never  seen  nor  touched  an  ogre's  arm. 
Would  not  her  brave  son  accord  her  the  pleasure  to 
examine  such  a  rare  curiosity  ? 

Tsuna  yielded.  He  rashly  opened  the  chest,  and 
delivered  the  monstrous  arm  into  the  bony  hand 
stretched  out  for  it.  As  he  did  so  he  remarked,  what 
he  had  not  noticed  before,  that  his  mother  was  one- 
handed.  But  he  had  no  time  to  ask  for  an  explana- 
tion. The  old  woman,  who  was  really  no  other  than 
the  ogre,  started  up,  and  cleverly  fitting  the  arm-bone 
into  its  socket,  laughed  loudly,  and  flew  out  in  an 
eddy  of  wind  by  the  smoke-hole. 

Who  then  was  crestfallen  but  our  brave  Tsuna  ?  He 
reported  the  untoward  occurrence  to  Yorimitsu,  who 
reported  it  to  the  Mikado,  who  ordered  Yorimitsu  to 
lead  at  once  an  expedition  against  the  ogres,  and  ex- 
terminate them.  It  was  easy  talking ;  but  Yorimitsu 
knew  that  if  he  set  out  with  a  large  following,  the 
band  would  not  fail  to  hear  of  his  mission  and  would 
decamp.  Strategy  was  requisite  in  dealing  with  the 
monsters.  So,  taking  only  his  four  lieutenants,  he 
disguised  himself  and  them  as  Buddhist  pilgrims,  and, 
leaving  the  Rashomon  gate  early  in  the  morning, 
without  making  known  his  errand  to  any  one,  he 
struck  out  for  the  land  of  Tamba.  Each  man  car- 
132 


Horrific  Exploits  of  Yorimitsu 

ried  in  addition  to  his  staff  and  bell,  a  bamboo  bucket 
full  of  sake,  and  instead  of  the  priest's  pack  of  holy 
books,  his  arms  stowed  away  in  a  knapsack. 

They  wandered  for  some  days  in  the  mountains 
without  finding  any  trace  of  the  robbers.  They 
were  beginning  to  think  of  abandoning  the  enterprise 
when  they  were  joined  by  a  well-disposed  forest  god 
in  the  guise  of  a  woodcutter,  who,  ashamed  probably 
of  the  uncivil  doings  of  his  wilder  relatives,  guided 
them  as  far  as  to  the  foot  of  Oeyama,  where  the  band 
had  established  their  fortress.  There,  they  presently 
discovered  a  young  woman  washing  some  bloodied  rai- 
ment in  a  stream.  She  was  thrall  to  the  ogres,  and, 
after  much  persuasion  she  led  them  to  their  cavern. 

Now,  the  demons  know  that  priests  belong  in  a 
measure  to  the  supernatural  world,  like  themselves ; 
and,  as  these  priests  made  no  preparations  to  begin  a 
spiritual  warfare  against  them,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
offered  to  share  with  them  the  contents  of  their  sake 
buckets,  they  were  amicably  received.  Priests  and 
ogres  held  a  grand  carouse  until  the  buckets  were 
emptied ;  and  then  commenced  an  earth-shaking  bal- 
let. Tengu  and  horned  demons,  priests  and  out- 
laws, black  robe  and  hairy  mantle,  flew  round  and 
about  the  cavern.  The  young  woman  that  the 
brigands  had  stolen  furnished  the  music. 

The  fun  was  at  its  height,  when  Tsuna,  engaging  in 
133 


Sunrise  Stories 

a  friendly  wrestling  match  with  the  chief  ogre,  caught 
his  hands  and  held  them,  laughing,  while  Yorimitsu, 
who  unperceived  had  got  out  his  weapon,  with  a 
sweeping  stroke  severed  the  wretch's  head  from  his 
neck,  so  neatly  that  the  couple  danced  on  again  for 
some  seconds,  the  ogre  with  his  head  still  in  place, 
and  no  whit  aware  of  what  had  happened. 

While  the  attention  of  the  company  was  directed 
to  Tsuna  and  his  partner,  the  other  companions  of 
Yorimitsu  had  had  time  to  exchange  their  priests' 
gowns  for  armor,  and  to  draw  their  weapons.  And 
now  befel  a  slaughter  great  and  memorable.  The 
five  champions  rushed  upon  the  demons,  who,  though 
numerous,  were  in  poor  condition  for  fighting,  as 
they  had  drunk  the  greater  portion  of  the  sake. 
Here,  an  ogre's  head  shot  up  to  the  ceiling  on  a  jet 
of  blood,  and  fell  with  gnashing  teeth  on  Yorimitsu's 
helmet.  There,  lay  others  of  the  band  cut  and 
carved  in  every  style.  Not  one  escaped.  The  rob- 
bers who  had  been  left  on  guard  by  the  stockade, 
ran  in  to  aid  their  comrades.  Their  throats  were 
cut,  ribs  pierced,  heads  broken  as  they  came.  Last, 
the  victorious  knights  cut  down  the  two  guards  of  the 
charnel  house,  who  had  not  stirred  from  their  posts. 
The  robbers'  fastness  was  set  on  fire,  and,  lighted  by 
its  flames,  and  taking  with  them  the  rescued  captives 
laden  with  booty,  they  returned  triumphantly  to  Kioto. 
134 


Horrific  Exploits  of  Yorimitsu 

Such  is  the  legend  ;  but  now  for  the  truth  of  his- 
tory ! 

Beside  the  bare  fact  of  his  expedition  against  the 
robbers  of  Tamba,  about  the  only  thing  known  with 
certainty  concerning  Yorimitsu  is  that  he  died  in  his 
bed,  at  a  good  old  age,  in  A.D.  1021. 


135 


XII 
FORTUNES  OF  THE  GEN 

BY  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  the  two 
great  military  families  had  completely  tranquillized 
the  country,  and  a  short  period  of  unexampled  pros- 
perity succeeded.  The  Taira,  the  descendants  of 
the  Emperor  Uda's  favorite,  Takamochi,  had  cleared 
the  Inland  Sea  of  pirates,  and  had  restored  order 
among  the  turbulent  southern  clans,  while  their  rivals 
of  the  Gen,  or  Minamoto,  completed  the  conquest  of 
northern  Japan.  The  five  Home  Provinces,  Yama- 
shiro,  Yamato,  Kawachi.  Izumi,  and  Settsu,  had  long 
enjoyed  the  most  profound  peace.  Whatever  the 
faults  of  the  Court,  the  country  under  its  immediate 
protection  was,  as  a  rule,  well  governed  and  lightly 
taxed.  In  times  of  dearth  taxes  were  wholly  re- 
mitted, and  we  read  how,  on  one  such  occasion,  the 
Emperor  took  up  his  residence  in  a  countryman's 
grass  hut  to  set  an  example  of  economy  to  his  subor- 
dinates. In  more  prosperous  seasons,  the  happy 
peasants  might  be  seen  trotting  into  Kioto  with  their 
tribute  of  rice,  or  silk,  or  yarn,  bells  jingling  at  their 
136 


Fortunes  of  the  Gen 

horses'  tails,  and  themselves  arrayed  in  holiday  at- 
tire. 

But  the  time  was  already  at  hand  when  this  Uto- 
pian state  of  things  was  to  give  way  for  over  four 
centuries  to  ever-increasing  disorder.  It  was  no 
longer  against  Aino  savages,  "grass  rebels;"*  or 
hunted  outlaws  that  the  warrior  had  to  fight,  but 
against  men  of  his  own  race  and  condition,  often  of 
his  own  sept.  The  control  of  the  Court  was  to  be 
the  prize  of  contention,  and  the  Home  Provinces  the 
most  frequent  scene  of  warfare. 

Excepting  a  few  battle  hymns  in  the  "  Kojiki,"  the 
Japanese  have  no  war -songs,  properly  so  called  ;  but 
the  following  idyls  may  bring  before  the  reader,  more 
clearly  than  would  pages  of  description,  the  nature  of 
the  feudal  contests  that  so  long  distressed  the  coun- 
try. The  sentiment  of  profound  melancholy  that 
appears  in  the  first  is  more  touching  than  anything 
in  the  earlier  literature.  It  reveals  the  growth  of 
the  feudal  spirit,  and  brings  us  so  far  nearer  to 
modern  feelings  and  ideas.  The  warder  complains 
at  being  left  behind  in  garrison  when  his  chief  de- 
parts on  a  distant  and  dangerous  expedition.  He 
thinks  of  the  coming  winter,  when  the  snow  will 
block  the  mountain-passes  and  cut  off  communication 

*  So  called  because  they  hid  in  the  long  grass  with  which  the 
moors  are  covered  in  summer. 

137 


Sunrise  Stories 

between  the  castle  and  the  force  in  the  field.  The 
allusion  in  the  first  stanza  is  to  the  Sacred  Virgin, 
always  a  princess  of  the  Imperial  house,  sent  from 
Kioto  to  the  temple  of  Yamada,  in  Ise,  accompanied 
by  a  splendid  retinue,  on  the  accession  of  a  new 
Mikado.  It  appears  that  she  went  most  of  the  way 
by  sea. 

WAR    IN    AUTUMN. 

«  Saw'st  thou  Ise's  maid 

O'er  stormy  seas,  to  exile 

Carried,  sick  at  heart  ? 
As  sad  the  tints  of  Autumn 
Through  drifts  of  rain  appearing. 

Bitter  is  the  time 
That  friend  from  old  friend  severs, 

Forced  to  dwell  apart, 
Nor  one  the  other  aiding  ; 

Bitter  is  the  day 
That  sends  the  loved  guest  homeward  ; 

But,  of  all  days  worst, 
That  when  the  faithful  clansman 

Sees  his  lord  march  forth. 

Long,  long  the  empty  spaces 
Wistfully  he  scans  ; 
For  ring  of  armor  listening, 
Hears  but  the  wild  duck  calling. 

"  War  in  Spring  "  describes  the  joy  of  the  farmer 
at  the  prospect  that  the  scene  of  war  is  to  be  re- 
138 


Fortunes  of  the  Gen 

moved  to  other  fields,  and  that  he  will  be  permitted 
to  reap  the  crop  that  he  has  sown.  We  must 
imagine  that  the  bowmen  and  spearmen  of  Yoshit- 
sune's  army  have  just  marched  by  along  the  muddy 
roads,  under  the  rain-filled  blossoms,  in  hot  pursuit 
of  the  enemy. 

WAR    IN    SPRING. 

Sowing  wide  the  rain, 
The  soft  gray  clouds  foregather 

In  the  chilly  air  ; 
And  weeps  the  ice-clad  willow 
Into  the  misty  river. 

Minamoto's  lord 
Kawadzura's  routed  forces 

Drives  through  Yoshino  ; 
And,  now,  our  heart  rejoices 

In  the  growing  Spring. 
Up  on  the  mountain  ridges, 

Down  the  hollow  glens, 
A  host  of  blossoms  greets  him. 

Every  wind  that  blows 
Wafts  far  and  wide  their  fragrance 
And  Yoshitsune's  fame. 

Of  prose  narratives  of  the  wars  there  is  an  abun- 
dance. The  Heike  Monogatari,  or  "  Story  of  the 
Heike "  (Taira),  and  the  Hogen  Monogatari,  or 
"Story  of  the  Gen,"  are  the  principal  sources  for 
the  historian  who  would  treat  of  the  first  period  of 
139 


Sunrise  Stories 

the  civil  wars,  that  of  the  contest  between  these  two 
great  families. 

Among  the  causes  that  led  to  the  outbreak  was 
the  predominance  in  civil  affairs  of  the  Fujiwara. 
Claiming  to  be  as  ancient  as  the  Imperial  house, 
that  family  had  long  monopolized  all  the  important 
civil  offices  throughout  the  Empire,  leaving  the  mili- 
tary control  to  the  Minamoto  in  the  north,  and  the 
Taira  in  the  south.  But  after  the  complete  pacifi- 
cation of  the  Empire,  the  chiefs  of  both  the  military 
clans  came  to  reside  in  Kioto.  Each  was  accom- 
panied by  a  large  following,  and,  their  former  oc- 
cupation gone,  they  continually  encroached  on  the 
privileges  of  the  Fujiwara.  The  latter  had  developed 
the  astute  policy  of  inducing  each  successive  Emperor 
to  resign  and  enter  a  monastery  after  a  reign  of  a  few 
years.  The  occupant  of  the  throne  was  seldom  more 
than  a  mere  youth,  often  a  child,  and,  though 
theoretically  his  will  was  law,  he  was  completely 
under  the  control  of  his  guardians  and  advisers,  who 
were  nearly  all  selected  from  the  different  branches 
of  the  Fujiwara.  The  Emperor  Shirakawa,  who  as- 
cended the  throne  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  was 
forced  to  retire  at  thirty-five,  in  favor  of  his  son, 
Horikawa,  who  was  made  Emperor  at  the  mature 
age  of  nine.  Horikawa  was  followed  by  Toba,  who 
began  to  reign  at  six,  and  abdicated  at  sixteen. 
140 


Fortunes  of  the  Gen 

Shiutoku  succeeded  him  at  four  years  old  and  re- 
tired at  twenty-four,  to  be  succeeded  by  Konoye, 
also  four  years  old,  who  died  at  seventeen.  Konoye 
adopted  as  his  heir  his  elder  brother,  Go-Shirakawa, 
thus  threatening  the  dominant  position  of  the  Fuji- 
wara.  The  latter,  aided  by  part  of  the  Minamoto, 
endeavored  to  enthrone  the  lineal  heir  in  disregard 
of  the  late  Emperor's  wishes ;  but  the  Taira  espoused 
the  cause  of  Go-Shirakawa,  and,  defeating  their 
enemies  in  a  pitched  battle,  seated  him  upon  the 
throne.  Thus  began  the  long  feud  between  the  clans. 

But  the  new  Emperor  was  allowed  to  wield  no 
more  actual  authority  than  his  predecessors.  Kiyo- 
mori,  the  head  of  the  Taira,  following  the  tactics  of 
the  deposed  Fujiwara,  usurped  all  the  powers  of  the 
government.  Go-Shirakawa  reigned  but  three  years, 
when  he,  also,  was  packed  off  to  a  monastery.  An- 
other succession  of  child  Emperors  followed.  Nijo, 
aged  at  his  accession  eighteen,  died  at  twenty-four ; 
Rokujo,  proclaimed  Emperor  when  scarcely  one  year 
old,  was  deposed  at  four,  and,  after  an  interregnum, 
was  succeeded  by  Takakura,  aged  eight,  who  abdi- 
cated at  twenty-one.  Antoku,  the  last  of  the  puppet 
Emperors  under  the  Taira,  began  to  reign  at  three 
and  was  drowned  at  the  sea  fight  of  Dan-No-Ura, 
which  brought  the  Taira  usurpation  to  an  end. 

His  power  established,  Kiyomori  treated  the  con- 
141 


Sunrise  Stories 

quered  with  such  excessive  severity,  that  even  those  of 
the  Minamoto  who  had  fought  on  his  side  were 
driven  to  conspire  against  him.  Their  plans  were 
not  allowed  to  ripen.  The  Taira  set  upon  them  in 
the  streets  of  Kioto,  and  slaughtered  them  almost 
to  a  man.  The  Minamoto  chieftain,  Yoshitomo, 
fled  to  Owari,  where  he  was  assassinated.  Kiyo- 
mori  again  snowed  the  heavy  hand  of  the  novice 
in  his  measures  against  the  remnant  of  the  clan,  and 
filled  most  of  the  Court  offices  with  members  of  his 
family.  His  daughter  became  the  consort  of  the 
Emperor  Takakura.  His  relations  were  appointed  to 
rule  over  thirty  provinces.  But  he  lived  to  see  his 
work  almost  completely  undone,  and  the  fallen  fort- 
unes of  his  rivals  restored  as  by  magic. 

In  the  rout  of  the  Minamoto  one  of  the  young  sons 
of  the  vanquished  chieftain,  Yoritomo,  became  sepa- 
rated from  the  rest  of  the  family.  He  was  discovered 
by  a  captain  of  the  Taira  and  brought  to  Kioto,  but 
was  saved  by  the  intercession  of  Kiyomori's  mother. 
The  man  who  had  found  him,  one  Hojo  Tokimasa, 
was  permitted  to  rear  and  educate  the  boy,  and  was 
held  responsible  for  his  conduct.  Tokimasa  retired 
with  his  ward  to  his  own  fief  at  Idzu.  There  Yori- 
tomo fell  in  love  with  the  pretty  daughter  of  his  cap- 
tor, Masago.  But  he  was  a  politic  young  man,  and, 
knowing  that  her  father  intended  Masago  for  a  prom- 
142 


Fortunes  of  the  Gen 

inent  noble  of  his  own  clan,  he  deemed  it  prudent  to 
transfer  his  affections  to  her  older  sister.  His  letters, 
however,  were  delivered  by  his  servant  to  the  young- 
er, and  chance  and  inclination  together  determined 
Yoritomo  upon  risking  an  elopement  with  her. 
Masago  had  a  strong  hold  upon  her  father's  affections, 
and  she  quickly  obtained  forgiveness  for  herself  and 
her  husband.  More  than  that,  she  brought  Hojo 
over  to  the  cause  of  the  Minamoto.  Together  with 
Yoritomo,  he  entered  into  correspondence  with  the 
scattered  survivors  of  the  clan,  of  which  his  son- 
in-law  was  now  the  head,  and  with  the  ex-Emperor 
Go-Shirakawa,  who  had  been  sent  into  exile  by 
Kiyomori. 

A  rendezvous  was  appointed  in  the  Hakone  Moun- 
tains, but  only  a  few  hundred  men  answered  the 
summons.  They  were  attacked  by  the  Taira  and 
easily  defeated.  Yoritomo  and  a  few  of  his  adher- 
ents took  refuge  the  night  after  the  battle  in  a  hollow 
tree.  He  was  again  saved  by  an  enemy,  who,  being 
sent  to  search  the  tree,  pronounced  it  empty.  A 
wood  pigeon  which  had  its  nest  in  its  branches,  and 
which  had  not  been  disturbed  by  the  fugitives,  flew  off 
at  the  approach  of  the  searching  party,  and  the  leader 
took  that  for  sufficient  proof  that  no  one  had  preceded 
them.  A  few  days  later  Yoritomo  was  again  in  im- 
minent danger  of  capture,  and  would  have  been 


Sunrise  Stories 

taken,  had  not  a  priest  hidden  him  in  his  closet.  At 
last  he  got  away  by  sea  to  the  peninsula  of  Awa, 
where  he  gathered  a  small  band,  and,  returning  to 
the  mainland,  again  took  the  field  in  the  very  scene 
of  his  defeat. 

Among  the  first  to  enter  into  Yoritomo's  plans  had 
been  his  younger  half-brother,  Yoshi-Tsune.  Son  of 
the  murdered  Yoshitomo  by  his  mistress,  a  peasant 
girl  of  extraordinary  beauty,  the  tyrant  at  Kioto  had 
spared  his  life  for  her  sake.  Kiyomori  thought  to  put 
him  out  of  the  way  by  sending  him  to  the  monastery 
of  Kuramayama,  near  Kioto,  to  be  educated  as  a 
priest.  But  the  "Young  Ox,"  as  the  monks  nick- 
named him  because  of  his  strength  and  insubordi- 
nation, refused  to  join  their  order.  He  escaped, 
and,  in  the  company  of  a  pedlar,  made  his  way  to 
the  province  ofMutsu,  in  the  extreme  north  of  Japan, 
where  the  governor,  a  Fujiwara,  received  him  into 
his  service.  He  now  came  forward  to  Yoritomo's 
aid  with  what  following  he  could  muster  among  the 
many  enemies  that  Kiyomori's  grasping  policy  had 
made  for  him  in  the  northern  provinces.  Yoritomo, 
so  reinforced,  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  consider- 
able army.  Taught  prudence  by  his  recent  reverses, 
he  intrenched  himself  at  Kamakura,  not  far  from  the 
site  of  the  present  capital,  Tokio ;  and  having  now 
a  secure  base  of  operations,  made  ready  for  a  forward 
144 


Fortunes  of  the  Gen 

movement  on  Kioto.  In  the  midst  of  these  prepara- 
tions, Kiyomori  died,  beseeching  his  son  and  suc- 
cessor to  waste  no  time  in  funeral  ceremonies,  but 
lay  the  head  of  Yoritomo  of  the  Minamoto  on  his 
tomb. 

At  the  opening  of  the  campaign,  the  younger  of 
the  two  brothers,  Yoshitsune,  was  in  command  at 
Kamakura;  Yoritomo  had  returned  to  his  old  re- 
cruiting ground  at  Awa,  east  of  the  bay  of  Tokio  ; 
and  his  cousin,  Yoshinaka,  was  posted  with  a  large 
band  in  the  mountains  of  Shinano,  between  Kamakura 
and  the  capital.  At  the  news  of  Kiyomori's  death, 
Yoshinaka,  without  waiting  for  orders  or  reinforce- 
ments, marched  at  once  on  Kioto.  In  a  pitched 
battle  outside  the  city  he  defeated  the  much  larger 
army  sent  against  him,  and  entered  the  capital  in 
triumph.  Kiyomori's  son,  Munemori,  the  young 
emperor,  Antoku,  and  most  of  the  Court  escaped,  and 
Yoshinaka,  construing  this  retreat  to  be  equivalent  to 
an  abdication,  put  Antoku's  brother,  Go-Toba,  then 
seven  years  old,  upon  the  throne.  His  easy  success 
turned  Yoshinaka's  head.  He  arrogated  to  himself 
the  title  of  shogun  (commander  in  chief),  assumed 
to  be  the  power  behind  the  throne,  and  prepared  to 
put  down  his  cousins,  Yoshitsune  and  Yoritomo. 
The  former  was  therefore  sent  from  Kamakura  against 
him,  Yoritomo  occupying  the  stronghold  with  his 
i45 


Sunrise  Stories 

new  levies.  Yoshinaka  moved  out  to  Fushimi,  a 
marshy  place  on  the  banks  of  the  Yodogawa,  a  little 
south  of  Kioto,  to  engage  Yoshitsune's  army.  He 
was  defeated;  and  in  flying  from  the  battle-field, 
his  horse  becoming  mired  in  a  rice  swamp,  he  was 
shot  in  the  forehead  with  an  arrow. 

Yoshitsune  was  now  master  of  the  situation.  He 
did  not  rest  upon  his  laurels.  He  turned  his  arms 
against  the  Taira  that  still  held  out  at  Fukuwara,  near 
Kobe,  to  which  place  Kiyoinori  had  at  one  time  re- 
moved the  capital.  The  place  was  carried  by  assault. 
Munemori,  who  commanded,  fled  to  the  castle  of 
Yashima,  which  Yoshitsune  also  took  and  burned. 
Munemori  then  joined  his  partisans  of  the  Court  in 
Shikoku,  but,  fearing  attack,  fled  by  sea  to  Kiushiu. 
Yoshitsune  promptly  collected  a  larger  fleet  and  fol- 
lowed. The  Taira  were  overtaken  at  Dan-No-Ura 
in  the  Straits  of  Shimonoseki.  The  battle  that  en- 
sued is  one  of  the  most  famous  in  the  annals  of  Japan. 
The  Taira  fleet  was  annihilated.  The  widow  of  Kiyo- 
mori  drowned  herself  and  the  boy  Emperor,  her 
grandson,  in  order  to  disappoint  the  victors  who 
wished  to  take  them  alive.  The  few  hundred  sur- 
vivors who  managed  to  escape  hid  themselves  in  the 
mountains  of  Kiushiu.  There  their  descendants  can 
still  be  moved  to  tears  by  the  itinerant  story-teller 
who  recites  from  memory  the  rhythmic  prose  of 
146 


Fortunes  of  the  Gen 

the  "  Heike  Monogatari,"  the  story  of  their  great 
disaster. 

Yoshitsune  was  ill  rewarded  for  his  brilliant  victo- 
ries. Yoritomo  seems  to  have  feared  that  he  might 
play  the  same  game  as  Yoshinaka,  and  with  better 
success.  He  commanded  him,  on  his  return,  not  to 
enter  Kamakura,  but  to  deliver  up  his  trophies  at  a 
temple  without  the  walls.  He  was  obeyed,  and, 
Yoshitsune  returned  to  Kioto.  Deprived  of  his 
command  and  followed  by  spies,  he  lived  in  constant 
dread  of  assassination.  From  Kioto  he  retired  to 
Yoshino,  and  thence,  with  many  adventures  by  the 
way,  fled  to  his  old  place  of  refuge  at  Mutsu.  He 
was,  at  first,  well  received,  but  his  former  protector 
died  soon  after  his  arrival ;  and  his  son,  thinking  to 
ingratiate  himself  with  Yoritomo,  barbarously  mur- 
dered his  guest.  Instead  of  the  promotion  which  he 
expected,  the  assassin  was  punished  for  his  crime  by 
Yoritomo,  who,  however,  is  not  held  guiltless  of 
complicity  in  it. 

Legends  still  current  among  the  Aino  of  Yezo  as- 
sert that  Yoshitsune  made  good  his  escape  to  that  isl- 
and ;  and  thence,  some  believe,  he  passed  to  the 
mainland  and  became  famous  all  over  Asia  as  the 
great  Mongol  conqueror,  Genghis  Khan.  A  number 
of  circumstances  lend  some  color  of  probability  to 
this  belief — the  similarity  of  the  names  Gen  and 
i47 


Sunrise  Stories 

Genghis,  the  correspondence  of  dates,  the  Mongol 
conqueror  first  becoming  prominent  a  little  after 
Yoshitsune's  disappearance,  and  the  fact  that,  at  the 
height  of  his  power,  he  sent  an  army  to  invade  Japan. 
But  history  rejects  this  opinion. 

The  battle  of  Dan-No-Ura  was  fought  in  A.D. 
1185.  Yoritomo  died  of  the  effects  of  a  fall  from  his 
horse  in  1199.  In  the  interval  he  had  entirely  re- 
organized the  military  and  judicial  administration  of 
the  Empire,  and  controlled  all  practical  affairs  of 
government  from  his  own  stronghold,  Kamakura. 
He  had  obtained  from  the  Emperor  the  title  of 
shogun,  with  the  right  of  transmitting  it  to  his  de- 
scendants. But  scarcely  was  he  dead  when  a  new 
and  unlooked-for  change  took  place.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded as  shogun  by  his  son,  Yoshiiye,  under  the 
guardianship  of  his  grandfather,  the  former  Taira 
captain,  Hojo  Tokimasa.  The  latter  kept  a  firm 
hand  on  the  machinery  created  by  Yoritomo,  and 
treated  his  ward  as  the  Emperors  had  long  been 
treated,  that  is  to  say,  he  ignored  him  in  all  matters 
of  importance.  When  Yoshiiye  insisted  on  having  a 
share  in  the  government,  Tokimasa  exiled  him  to  a 
monastery  and  there  had  him  assassinated.  His 
younger  brother,  Sanetomo,  was  appointed  shogun  in 
his  stead,  but  Yoshiiye's  son,  a  mere  lad,  murdered 
him  in  revenge  for  his  father's  death,  and  for  this  was 
148 


Fortunes  of  the  Gen 

himself  executed.  Thus  ended  the  main  line  of  the 
Minamoto. 

Hojo  and  his  descendants  now  openly  took  to 
themselves  the  supreme  power.  Still,  they  did 
not  assume  the  shogunate,  but  compelled  the  child 
Emperors  at  Kioto  to  appoint  "  shadow  sho- 
guns  "  at  Kamakura,  in  whose  name  they  governed 
the  country  as  regents.  In  several  cases,  to  secure 
still  greater  freedom  from  responsibility,  the  old 
game  of  resignation  was  resorted  to,  and  an  ex- 
regent,  from  some  secure  monastic  retreat,  directed 
the  policy  of  the  regent,  who  controlled  the  shogun, 
who  was  supposed  to  govern  as  representative  and 
agent  of  the  Emperor. 

Thus  the  influence  of  the  Court  at  Kioto  was  re- 
duced to  the  shadow  of  a  shade.  The  arts  flourished 
in  the  new  capital  of  the  Hojo,  especially  the  art  of 
metal- working  connected  with  the  fabrication  of  arms 
and  armor.  The  colossal  Buddha  of  Kamakura, 
erected  at  this  period,  is  the  greatest  triumph  of  the 
bronze  founders'  art  in  Japan.  The  Mongol  inva- 
sion, already  referred  to,  was  repelled,  and,  on  the 
whole,  the  country  prospered  under  the  revived  Taira 
despotism.  But  literature  fell  almost  wholly  into  the 
hands  of  the  monks,  who  brought  into  use  many 
Chinese  terms,  leading  the  way  to  the  modern  Japan- 
ese, which  is  largely  composed  of  foreign  idioms. 
149 


Sunrise  Stories 

Purists  reject  this  later  literature  in  toto,  yet  it  in- 
cludes some  of  the  most  characteristic  products  of 
Japanese  genius.  To  it  belong  the  drama,  the  novel, 
the  principal  histories  ;  and,  in  the  period  of  the  civil 
war,  the  lyrical  drama,  evolved  by  the  monks  from  the 
old  Court  dances,  and  many  curious  personal  narra- 
tions like  that  which  is  reviewed  in  the  following 
chapter. 


150 


XIII 

KAMO  NO   CHOMEI'S   "STORY  OF  MY   HUT" 

THE  troubles  and  disasters  of  the  latter  half  of  the 
twelfth  century  were  nowhere  more  severely  felt  than 
at  Kioto.  The  unfortunate  capital  was  frequently  the 
scene  of  sanguinary  battles  between  the  Taira  and 
the  Minamoto.  The  city  suffered,  besides,  from  mis- 
fortunes of  its  own.  In  1177  a  great  conflagration  de- 
stroyed thousands  of  houses  and  part  of  the  imperial 
palace.  A  hurricane  in  1180  was  followed  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  Court  by  Kiyomori  to  his  fortress  city  of 
Fukuwara.  Pestilence  and  famine  ravaged  the  dis- 
trict after  the  usurper's  death  in  1181.  The  year 
of  the  Taira  overthrow  at  Dan-No-Ura,  1185,  was 
marked  at  the  capital  by  a  tremendous  earthquake. 
Through  most  of  these  events  Kamo  no  Chomei,  son 
of  a  Buddhist  priest  of  the  neighborhood,  was  a 
resident  in  Kioto.  Having  lost  most  of  his  property, 
owing  to  the  wars,  and  being  disappointed  in  his 
hopes  of  preferment,  he  retired  to  the  village  of 
Owari,  where,  he  complains,  he  was  reduced  to  live 
in  a  cottage  that  could  not  boast  of  a  gateway,  and 


Sunrise  Stories 

that  was  scarcely  a  tenth  as  large  as  his  ancestral 
dwelling.  There  he  appears  to  have  stayed  for  ten 
or  a  dozen  years,  and  to  have  derived  consolation 
from  that  ready  resource  of  the  unpractical,  the  culti- 
vation of  the  Muse.  During  this  time  Yoshinaka 
seized  Kioto,  the  Taira  were  destroyed,  Yoritomo 
became  shogun,  and  died,  leaving  the  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  old  Hqjo  Tokimasa.  Chomei  became 
celebrated  as  a  poet,  and  was  invited  in  that  capacity 
to  Kamakura  by  the  shadow-shogun,  Sanetomo.  But 
this  good  fortune  came  too  late,  or  he  soon  tired  of 
being  a  witness  of  his  patron's  dissolute  mode  of  life. 
At  the  age  of  sixty  he  again  left  the  world  to  pass 
the  remainder  of  his  days  in  a  hut  that  he  built  for 
himself  on  the  side  of  Toyama,  or  West  Mountain,  in 
the  province  of  Etchu.  There  he  wrote  his  ' '  Hojoki ' ' 
— a  most  curious  and  interesting  account  of  his  life  as 
a  hermit — in  that  mixture  of  Chinese  and  Japanese 
abominated  by  latter-day  critics. 

In  Japan  it  is  more  respectful — because  less  famil- 
iar— to  speak  of  a  person  by  the  name  of  his  dwell- 
ing than  by  his  proper  name  or  title.  Thus  the 
Emperor  is  the  "  Dairi,"  that  is,  "the  great  gate" 
of  the  palace;  and  in  Tsurayuki's  journal,  he,  the 
owner,  is  referred  to  as  "  the  Ship."  The  custom  is 
not  unknown  elsewhere.  In  similar  fashion  Chomei 
humorously  identifies  himself  with  his  hut.  Later 
152 


Kamo  no  Chomei's  "Story  of  My  Hut" 

the  metaphor  became  a  commonplace,  and  the  word 
Hojo  came  to  be  applied  indifferently  to  a  small  and 
mean  dwelling  or  to  a  Buddhist  priest.  The  "  Story 
of  My  Hut  "  is  the  story  of  Kamo  no  Chomei's  life. 

Thoreau  speaks  somewhere  of  the  house  as  the  man's 
outer  garment ;  but  to  Chomei  it  was  a  second  self. 
He  dwells  on  the  similarity  of  the  destinies  of  domi- 
cile and  inmate.  Of  the  multitudinous  roofs  of  the 
great  city,  some,  indeed,  last  for  generations,  but 
finally  fall  into  decay,  and  are  torn  down  to  make 
room  for  new  buildings.  Their  fate  is  shared  by  the 
great  families,  their  owners.  More  often  the  master 
and  the  dwelling  may  be  compared  to  a  drop  of  dew 
in  the  cup  of  a  morning-glory  flower ;  no  one  can 
say  whether  the  dew  will  evaporate  or  the  blossom 
wither  first ;  but,  in  any  case,  what  is  certain  is  that 
neither  will  long  outlast  the  dawn. 

In  his  account  of  the  memorable  disasters  wit- 
nessed by  him  (with  which  he  points  this  moral) 
occursa  description  of  the  great  fire  of  April  28,  1177. 
It  started  at  night  in  a  shed  used  as  a  temporary  hos- 
pital, and,  a  strong  gale  blowing  from  the  south, 
swept  northward  in  the  shape  of  an  open  fan,  and 
before  morning  had  destroyed  half  the  palace,  the 
college  for  officials,  and  innumerable  dwellings. 
Clouds  of  black  smoke  and  showers  of  sparks  veiled 
the  more  distant  parts  of  the  city,  and  through  them 


Sunrise  Stories 

the  flames  could  be  seen  to  leap  whole  blocks  at  a 
time,  setting  new  quarters  in  a  blaze.  Thousands  per- 
ished, suffocated  by  the  smoke,  crushed  by  falling  tim- 
bers, or  burned  to  death,  and  those  that  survived  had 
lost  all  their  possessions.  "Foolish,  indeed!"  he 
exclaims,  "  the  man  who  expects  to  find  safety  in  so 
dangerous  a  place  as  a  city." 

The  cyclone  of  February  28,  1180,  affords  him  an- 
other example  of  the  unstable  fortunes  of  men  and 
houses.  Advancing  hundreds  of  yards  while  one 
might  draw  a  breath,  it  wrecked  every  building  in  its 
path.  In  some  cases  both  walls  and  roof  were  flat- 
tened out  upon  the  ground ;  in  others  the  bare  posts 
only  were  left  standing.  Thatch  and  tiles  were 
whirled  through  the  air  like  dead  leaves  in  autumn. 
Meanwhile  the  sky  was  obscured  with  dust,  and  the 
roaring  of  the  storm  drowned  the  outcries  of  the  vic- 
tims, reminding  him  of  "  the  wind  called  Go,  which, 
on  the  last  day,  will  sweep  all  created  things  before  it 
into  the  abyss. ' ' 

The  removal  of  the  Court  in  1180,  by  the  all-pow- 
erful Kiyomori,  the  famine  and  pestilence  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  and  the  earthquake  in  1185,  supply 
Chomei  with  further  matter  to  moralize  upon.  No- 
where could  there  be  secure  contentment  so  long  as 
one  had  anything  to  lose.  To  be  in  favor  with  the 
powerful  was  to  live  in  continual  fear,  "like  the 


Kamo  no  Chomei's  "Story  of  My  Hut" 

sparrow  that  builds  too  near  the  eagle's  eyry."  On 
the  other  hand,  the  poor  man  was  insulted  by  his 
wealthier  neighbors,  and  was  wretched  because  he 
could  not  afford  to  gratify  the  desires  of  his  wife  and 
family.  The  townsman  was  exposed  to  such  dangers 
as  he  had  described ;  but,  should  he  remove  to  the 
country,  he  suffered  many  privations  because  of  the 
bad  roads  and  the  numerous  robbers.  All  social  rela- 
tions were  but  further  sources  of  injury  and  annoy- 
ance. The  strong  oppressed  the  weaker ;  the  weak 
undermined  the  stronger.  One's  neighbor  is  one's 
enemy.  To  be  charitable  was  but  to  surround  one's  self 
with  parasites.  "  To  pursue  your  own  way  quietly  is 
to  be  treated  like  a  madman  ;  but  to  be  obliged  to 
act  exactly  as  others  do  is  not  to  be  borne. ' '  These 
arguments  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  best 
to  quit  the  world,  since  he  could  neither  reconcile 
himself  to  its  ways  nor  change  them  for  the  better. 

This  was  after  his  experience  at  Kamakura,  where, 
while  he  and  the  young  shogun  were  composing 
verses  and  laying  out  gardens,  the  crafty  old  Toki- 
masa  was  gathering  the  reins  of  power  into  his  own 
hands.  It  was  no  place  for  an  honest  man  who  had 
eyes  in  his  head.  He  fled  to  the  mountains,  and  at 
first  not  feeling  quite  safe  anywhere,  wandered  about 
in  the  provinces  of  Mino  and  Etchu.  His  hut  was 
built  of  planks  that  hooked  together,  so  that  it  might 


Sunrise  Stories 

be  readily  taken  down  and  moved  from  place  to  place. 
The  floor  was  of  earth,  the  roof  of  thatch  to  be  ob- 
tained everywhere.  Two  hired  carts  took  him,  his 
house,  and  his  furniture  wherever  he  wished  to  go. 

But  when  he  began  his  book  he  had  settled  on 
Mount  Toyama,  part  of  the  wildest  mountain  range  in 
all  Japan.  He  had  been  broken  in  health  before 
leaving  the  capital  of  the  shogun,  but  now  "  the  dew 
of  sixty  years,  that  had  been  on  the  point  of  evapo- 
rating, congealed  again  as  on  a  tiny  blade  of  grass." 
Here,  then,  is  an  end  of  complaining  and  repining. 
He  has  no  idea,  he  says,  of  composing  a  tract  for  the 
times,  or  of  satirizing  the  vices  and  follies  of  the 
world.  What  he  writes  is  a  simple  record  of  years 
passed  in  unaffected  piety  and  communion  with 
nature,  while  in  the  cities  about  him  everything 
seemed  relapsing  into  barbarism. 

His  hut,  he  tells  us,  was  but  ten  feet  square  and 
seven  feet  high — like  nothing  so  much  as  the  shelter 
that  a  belated  traveller  might  knock  together  for  the 
night ;  but  it  fitted  him  as  the  cocoon  fits  the  silk- 
worm. Other  houses  are  constructed  to  suit  every- 
body but  their  owners ;  family  and  servants,  even 
horses  and  cattle,  have  their  share  in  them,  but  his 
was  built  for  him  alone. 

Having  chosen  a  permanent  site,  he  had  added  a 
few  conveniences.  A  bamboo  mat,  supported  from 
156 


Kamo  no  Chomei's  "Story  of  My  Hut" 

the  southern  side  of  the  hut,  served  as  an  awning 
under  which  to  take  the  air.  A  shelf  attached  to  the 
inner  wall  held  an  image  of  Buddha,  placed  where 
the  morning  sun  might  strike  upon  its  forehead.  Pict- 
ures of  Fugen  and  Fudo  *  hung  upon  the  leaves  of 
the  door,  and  certain  black  boxes  held  his  Buddhist 
books  of  devotion  and  some  volumes  of  old  Japanese 
poetry.  Close  by  leaned  against  the  wall  a  biwa  and 
a  koto  ;  and,  though  he  was  but  an  indifferent  per- 
former, there  was  no  one  to  criticise  him,  and  he 
could  at  least  remind  himself  of  the  pleasure  he  had 
formerly  experienced  in  listening  to  the  most  cele- 
brated musicians  of  the  day.  He  puns  upon  the  name 
of  one  of  them.  "  When  the  wind  accompanies  me 
in  the  foliage  of  the  cinnamon-trees,"  he  says,  "I 
can  even  fancy  I  hear  the  very  notes  of  Cinnamon 
Dainagon."  Close  by  his  window  stood  his  writing- 
table.  A  brazier  and  a  wooden  pillow  complete  the 
inventory  of  his  furniture. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  it  with  Thoreau's.    The 
Concord  hermit  encumbered  himself  with  "  a  bed,  a 
table,  a  desk,  three  chairs,  a  looking-glass  three  inches 
in  diameter,  a  pair  of  tongs,  and  a  pair  of  andirons,  a 
kettle,  a  skillet,  and  a  frying-pan,  a  dipper,  a  wash- 
bowl, two  knives  and  forks  (sic),  three  plates,  one 
cup,  one  spoon,  a  jug  for  oil,  a  jug  for  molasses,  and  a 
*  Personifications  of  Meditation  and  Wisdom. 
157 


Sunrise  Stories 

japanned  lamp."  All  this  for  the  body,  which  to  re- 
duce to  what  was  absolutely  necessary  was  the  object 
of  his  experiment.  And,  for  the  spiritual  man,  there 
was  no  Buddha  with  the  morning  sun  on  his  forehead, 
no  pictures  nor  music,  nothing  but  books  and  "  Nat- 
ure." Nature,  too,  seems  to  have  had  more  to  say 
to  Chomei  than  to  the  New  England  philosopher. 

Our  hermit  cultivated  a  few  herbs  in  a  small  gar- 
den, watered  from  a  reservoir  supplied  by  a  bamboo 
pipe  from  a  spring  near  by.  The  forest  of  Toyama 
furnished  wild  fruits  and  plenty  of  fuel.  Across  the 
shrubby  valley  opening  on  the  Sea  of  Japan  he  could 
gaze  at  evening  toward  the  home  of  the  blessed,  and 
see  in  the  clouds  of  sunset  the  glories  of  the  Western 
Paradise.  "In  Spring,"  he  writes,  "the  purple 
wistaria  blossoms  wave  around  my  hut ;  in  summer  I 
listen  to  the  plaintive  call  of  the  cuckoo  ;  in  autumn 
the  shrill  voice  of  the  cicada  sounds  like  a  dirge  in 
my  ears ;  in  winter  the  heaped-up  snow  accumulates 
like  the  mountain  of  human  iniquity,  which  melts 
away  as  quickly  before  the  sun  of  virtuous  en- 
deavor. ' ' 

Unlike  those  monks  that  dwelt  together  in  com- 
munities, Chomei — no  man  of  routine — was  happy 
that  when  indisposed  there  was  no  superior  to  call  him 
to  account  for  failure  to  perform  his  devotions.  He 
did  as  the  spirit  moved  him.  On  the  other  hand, 
158 


Kamo  no  Chomei's  "Story  of  My  Hut" 

the  discipline  of  silence,  to  which  he  was  by  nature 
averse,  was  made  easy  to  him  by  the  absence  of 
chattering  companions.  And  in  most  other  things 
he  was  out  of  the  reach  of  temptation. 

The  warden  of  the  mountain,  living  in  a  cottage  at 
its  foot,  had  a  boy  who  sometimes  accompanied  the 
hermit  at  his  work  of  gathering  kaya  blossoms  (used 
for  food),  wild  parsley,  and  wild  potatoes,  and  in 
weaving  straw  mats  which  he  sold  to  supply  his  other 
necessities.  "  I  sixty,  he  sixteen,"  he  observes, 
"we  are  often  occupied  with  the  same  matters,  the 
same  thoughts." 

In  fine  weather  he  would  climb  to  the  summit  of 
the  mountain,  whence  he  could  see  the  peaks  of  his 
native  province.  Or  he  would  make  a  longer  pil- 
grimage to  the  shrines  of  Iwami  or  to  Ishiyamadera,* 
or  to  the  moor  of  Awazu,  to  muse  over  the  ruins  of 
"  old  Suminari's  (a  former  hermit's)  cottage."  Re- 
turning, he  would  stop  to  pluck  by  the  way  some  par- 
ticularly fine  bunch  of  fern  or  branch  of  maple  or  of 
cherry,  which  he  would  take  along  with  him  to  offer 
at  some  wayside  shrine.  By  night,  in  lonely  places 
among  the  mountains,  he  admired  the  fireflies  light- 
ing up  the  recesses  of  the  woods  like  torches,  and  the 
monkeys  crying  to  one  another  across  the  glen  would 

*A  tramp  overland  to  Iwami  and  back  must  have  taken  the 
entire  summer. 

159 


Sunrise  Stories 

bring  to  mind  some  lines  from  the  "Myriad 
Leaves :  ' ' 

Bright  rays  of  the  moon 
Of  shining  deeds  remind  me, 

Of  the  men  of  old  ; 
The  monkeys'  piteous  wailing 
With  sadness  deep  affects  me. 

But  the  morning  showers,  the  rustling  of  boughs  in 
the  wind,  would  rouse  him  to  more  cheerful  thoughts, 
and  the  cry  of  the  pheasant,  or  a  deer  coming  fear- 
lessly to  greet  him,  would  show  that  degenerate  hu- 
manity was  far  from  his  track. 

After  five  years'  use  his  hut  was,  at  the  time  of  his 
writing  (March,  1212),  somewhat  the  worse  for  wear. 
Moss  covered  part  of  the  floor  and  dead  leaves  filled 
the  hollows  in  the  roof.  From  time  to  time  he  hears 
of  the  death  of  some  man  of  note,  and  tries  to  guess 
how  many  of  less  consequence  must  have  passed  away 
since  he  came  to  his  retreat.  Palaces  and  hovels  not 
a  few  have  perished  in  the  many  conflagrations  ;  yet 
he  and  his  hut  remain.  In  the  wilderness  his  lean 
and  thinly  clad  figure  excites  no  ridicule.  A  tunic 
of  wistaria  fibre,  and  a  bed  of  leaves  covered  with 
hempen  cloth,  with  a  few  kaya  flowers  and  wild  fruits 
suffice  him.  His  lifelong  desires  are  satisfied.  He  is 
free  from  envy,  fear,  and  regret,  and  enjoys  the  beau- 
ties of  nature,  which  are  no  man's  private  property. 
160 


Kamo  no  Chomei's  "Story  of  My  Hut" 

His  conclusion  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  Buddhist 
practical  philosophy.  All  the  three  worlds  of  matter, 
feeling,  and  idea  constitute  one  great  unity  which  the 
quiet  soul  may  apprehend  and,  in  a  way,  appropriate. 
Of  what  use,  in  comparison,  are  treasures,  palaces, 
and  horses  to  him  whose  mind  is  not  at  rest  ?  Peace 
has  come  to  him  nowhere  but  in  his  hut.  In  the  city 
he  might  be  made  ashamed  of  his  poverty ;  in  the 
mountains  he  feels  only  pity  for  those  who  toil  to  so 
little  purpose  in  its  hot  and  dusty  streets.  "A  fish 
never  wearies  of  the  water,  nor  a  bird  of  the  forest, 
none  but  themselves  can  tell  why.  Neither  can  he 
who  has  not  experienced  them  judge  of  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  solitary."  Still,  one  fails  of  perfection  so 
long  as  his  heart  is  attached  to  anything  of  this 
world.  To  love  even  his  poor  hut  and  the  security  it 
affords  may  be  wrong.  "This  quiet  morning,  hav- 
ing written  down  these  reflections,  I  ask  myself:  Ad- 
mitting that  my  aim  is  good — to  calm  my  passions 
and  to  reduce  to  practice  the  principles  I  have  always 
professed — yet,  can  I  say  that  I  have  succeeded,  that 
I  am  a  sage  or  a  good  man,  more  than  in  appearance  ? 
Does  not  my  conduct  fall  short  of  that  of  the  weakest 
of  Buddha's  disciples  ?  Of  what  is  this  the  fault  ?  Of 
natural  incapacity,  or  of  some  remnant  of  vrorldliness 
not  yet  eradicated  ?  "  He  leaves  these  questions  un- 
answered and  ends  with  a  simple  prayer  for  light. 
161 


Sunrise  Stories 

Chomei  is  believed  to  have  died  in  1218,  a  year 
before  the  murder  of  his  sometime  patron,  Sanetomo. 
He  has  been  compared  with  Rousseau,  Wordsworth, 
Thoreau.  Their  aim  was  indeed  much  the  same — to 
secure  opportunity  and  leisure  for  building  up  the 
spiritual  man.  The  result  in  his  case,  if  less  striking, 
is  more  pleasing.  He  is  free  from  Rousseau's  moral 
weakness,  and  from  Wordsworth's  harsh  and  narrow 
egotism.  He  enjoyed  nature  after  a  more  artistic, 
that  is,  a  more  advanced  and  human  fashion,  than 
Thoreau,  who  must  have  spoiled  many  a  fine  sensa- 
tion in  his  haste  to  make  a  note  of  it.  As  to  the 
final  outcome  of  their  philosophizing,  it  may  be  that 
it  is  not  very  satisfactory  in  any  case. 


162 


XIV 

THE  FIGHTING  MONKS    AND   THEIR  STRANGE 
DIVERSIONS 

IN  the  long  period  of  the  civil  wars,  which  were 
only  interrupted  for  a  time  by  successful  HojO  state- 
craft, those  to  whom  fortune  was  unkind  did  not  all, 
like  Kamo  no  Chomei,  flee  to  the  mountains.  There 
were  the  monasteries,  which  furnished,  if  not  a  safer, 
at  least  a  more  comfortable,  retreat.  Most  of  those 
who,  either  from  choice  or  necessity,  were  out  of  the 
game  of  life  had  recourse  to  them.  They  were  a 
refuge  for  the  proscribed,  a  home  for  the  impover- 
ished, an  asylum  for  deposed  rulers,  a  place  of  de- 
tention for  prisoners  of  state.  All  sorts  of  interesting 
people  might  be  found  within  their  walls — penitent 
thieves,  and  warriors  sick  of  slaughter,  delicately 
reared  sons  of  noble  families,  and  waifs  of  unknown 
parentage.  The  worse  the  anarchy  in  the  world  out- 
side their  gates,  the  more  the  monasteries  grew  in 
wealth,  intelligence,  discipline,  and  power.  But  their 
holy  character  did  not  always  preserve  them  from 
assault  and  pillage.  It  was  not  unusual  for  men, 
163 


Sunrise  Stories 

who,  weary  of  fighting,  had  embraced  the  monastic 
life  in  the  hope  to  end  their  days  in  peace,  to  be 
obliged  to  take  up  arms  again  in  defence  of  their 
convent.  Their  -  fellow  monks  were  often  no  whit 
behind  these  ex-soldiers  in  courage.  In  the  general 
melee  a  warlike  abbot  would  even  sometimes  take 
the  aggressive,  either  to  wipe  off  an  old  score  or  to 
acquire  new  privileges  or  territory.  Thus,  the  life  of 
a  bonze  was  not  without  some  spice  of  danger  ;  and, 
for  the  gentle  quietist,  Chomei,  the  hut  on  Toyama 
was,  indeed,  the  only  possible  sanctuary. 

The  abbots  and  monks  of  the  ancient  foundation 
of  Hieisan  were  noted  above  others  for  their  militant 
spirit.  The  monastery  occupied  the  slope  of  the 
mountain  between  Kioto  and  Lake  Biwa,  and  over- 
looked the  lake.  It  had  added  to  its  domains  until 
they  included  thirteen  arable  valleys  and  the  hills 
and  forests  between ;  and  hundreds  of  shrines  and 
temples  were  hidden  in  the  groves  or  perched  boldly 
upon  the  summits.  A  feud  of  long  standing  existed 
between  it  and  the  monastery  of  Miidera  in  the  low- 
lands near  the  outlet  of  the  lake.  A  well-known 
legend  relates  how  Benkei,  the  gigantic  squire  of  Yo- 
shitsune,  stole  the  big  bell  of  Miidera  and  trundled 
it  uphill  to  Hieisan,  where  the  theft  was  looked  upon 
as  a  highly  meritorious  action  and  a  sufficient  repara- 
tion for  many  former  misdeeds.  But  the  bell  re- 
164 


The  Fighting  Monks 

fused  to  give  a  sound  when  rung,  and  Benkei,  dis- 
gusted, flung  it  back  again. 

The  monks  of  Hieisan  took  a  famous  part  in  the 
war  between  the  Taira  and  the  Minamoto.  Go- 
Shirakawa,  whose  accession  had  furnished  the  pretext 
for  war,  had  been  noted  as  a  prince  of  dissolute 
habits,  to  which  fact  he  doubtless  owed  the  prefer- 
ence which  the  Taira  chieftain,  Kiyomori,  accorded 
him.  But  hardly  had  he  been  placed  upon  the 
throne  when  he  developed  a  surprising  desire  for 
power  and  capacity  for  intrigue ;  so  that  the  wary 
prime-minister  thought  it  safest  to  depose  him  and 
pack  him  off  to  a  convent.  But  Go-Shirakawa  was 
not  so  easily  to  be  disposed  of.  As  "  cloistered  em- 
peror," with  zealous  monks  for  ministers  and  emis- 
saries, he  continued  secretly  to  have  a  hand  in  affairs, 
and  he  is  believed  to  have  been  instrumental  in  pro- 
moting Yoritomo's  successful  revolt.  At  any  rate 
he  welcomed  his  lieutenant,  Yoshinaka,  to  Kioto, 
and  was  prompt  to  recognize  his  nominee,  Go-Toba, 
as  emperor.  But  when  Yoshinaka  undertook  to  usurp 
the  supreme  executive  power,  Go-Shirakawa  marched 
against  him  at  the  head  of  several  thousand  sturdy 
bonzes.  They  were  met  by  Yoshinaka' s  troops  in 
the  outskirts  of  Kioto  and,  though  the  monks  laid 
about  them  valiantly  with  their  staves,  numbers  and 
superior  armament  carried  the  day ;  they  were  routed 
165 


Sunrise  Stories 

with  great  slaughter,  the  abbot  of  Hieisan  was  taken 
and  beheaded,  and  the  ex-Emperor  himself  was  put 
in  prison.  But  the  affair  aroused  intense  indignation 
against  Yoshinaka,  which  imperilled  his  position  in 
Kioto  and  so  contributed  to  the  loss  of  the  battle  of 
Fushimi  in  which  he  was  slain.  Go-Shirakawa  was 
released  by  the  victorious  Yoshitsune,  and,  until  his 
death,  in  1192,  retained  a  considerable  influence  in 
politics. 

The  chief  cause  of  the  continued  disturbances  was 
the  lack  of  real  statesmanship  among  the  men  who 
by  one  means  or  another  acquired  control  of  the 
nation.  Leader  after  leader  fought  or  intrigued  his 
way  to  the  surface  with  no  other  idea  than  to  keep 
his  legitimate  superiors  in  a  position  of  dependence 
while  he  lived,  and  to  transmit  his  titles  and  offices 
to  his  descendants  when  he  died.  No  attempt  was 
made  to  conciliate  rival  interests ;  no  scope  was  pro- 
vided for  legitimate  ambitions.  There  were  but  two 
ways  to  attain  or  to  keep  in  place — to  abuse  the  con- 
fidence of  the  lawful  ruler,  or  to  rebel  against  him. 
It  was  to  the  interest  of  the  actual  wielder  of  the 
power  that  the  nominal  head  of  the  nation  should  be 
a  child  or  a  weak  and  effeminate  youth,  who  might 
easily  be  led  or,  at  worst,  might  be  compelled  to  ab- 
dicate by  a  mere  show  of  force.  But  the  Imperial 
house  never  quite  lost  its  hold  on  the  loyalty  of  the 
166 


The  Fighting  Monks 

people;  and,  spite  of  all  precautions,  the  occupant 
of  the  throne  would  occasionally  assert  his  right  to 
govern.  The  emperors  could  not  be  permanently 
reduced  to  the  position  of  merely  spiritual  rulers,  like 
the  high-priests  of  Izumi.  When  compelled  to  ab- 
dicate, their  advice  might  yet  be  followed  by  the 
new  incumbent,  who  had  then  to  be  prevailed  upon 
to  abdicate  in  his  turn.  And  disaffected  clans  could 
usually  find  a  "cloistered  emperor"  to  sanction  a 
rebellion,  if  not  to  incite  and  lead  one. 

In  this  manner  Go-Toba  and  his  successor,  Tsuchi- 
mikado,  had  been  forced  into  retirement  by  the  first 
of  the  Hojo,  and  were  succeeded  in  1211  by  the  Em- 
peror Juntoku,  who  again  proved  unsubmissive,  and 
actually  "  conspired  "  against  the  regent  then  govern- 
ing in  the  name  of  the  shogun,  Chomei's  patron,  Sane- 
tomo.  The  attempt  failed.  Go-Toba  was  exiled  to 
the  islands  of  Old,  off  the  western  coast,  where  he 
died  ;  Juntoku  was  banished  to  Sado,  and  Tsuchi- 
mikado  to  Shikoku.  Chukyo,  who  succeeded  Juntoku, 
died  within  a  year ;  and  the  reign  of  Go-Horikawa, 
who  followed  him,  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  a  renew- 
al of  the  "  war  "  between  Hieisan  and  Miidera. 

For  about  a  century  after  these  events  the  Hojo 
maintained  a  qualified  ascendancy.  Fighting  was  con- 
stantly going  on  in  one  portion  or  another  of  the 
country,  but  there  was  no  general  disturbance.  But, 
167  ' 


Sunrise  Stories 

at  the  end,  the  Hojo  themselves  fell  into  the  prevail- 
ing vice  (for  such  it  had  become)  of  abdication  ;  and 
regents,  shoguns,  and  emperors,  all  alike  children 
or  weaklings,  were  controlled  by  guardians  or  tutors, 
or,  more  often,  by  some  irresponsible  ex-regent  who 
pulled  the  strings  that  moved  all  these  puppets  from 
the  seclusion  of  some  monastic  retreat.  The  monks 
were,  in  fact,  the  nerves,  brains,  and  heart  of  the  na- 
tion, and  he  who  would  rule  effectively  must  make 
use  of  them.  But  they  were  not  won  over  to  the 
Hojo.  Most  of  them  remained  stanch  Imperialists. 

In  1318  Go-Daigo,  who  had  acquired  the  neces- 
sary reputation  of  being  a  weak  and  pleasure-loving 
prince,  was  raised  to  the  throne.  It  turned  out  that 
he  had  dissembled  his  real  character,  and  that  he  was 
a  man  of  courage  and  ability.  The  Hojo  took 
alarm  ;  and,  finding  that  he  could  not  raise  a  suffi- 
cient force  to  hold  Kioto,  he  retreated  to  the  monas- 
tery of  Kasagi  in  the  romantic  valley  of  Yoshino,  not 
far  from  Nara,  the  ancient  capital.  The  monks  had 
already  fortified  the  place.  It  was  surrounded  by 
mountains  and  appeared  able  to  hold  out  until  distant 
partisans  of  the  Emperor  might  arrive  to  his  aid. 
The  movement  was,  however,  premature.  A  Hojo 
army  laid  siege  to  Kasagi.  The  fortifications  were 
carried  by  assault  and  were  demolished,  and  the  Em- 
peror was  sent  prisoner  to  Oki,  with  the  heads  of  his 
1 63 


The  Fighting  Monks 

chief  advisers  fixed  on  the  sill  of  his  palanquin,  to 
bear  him  company  on  the  way. 

From  his  island  prison,  where  Go-Toba  had  died 
some  eighty  years  before,  the  more  fortunate  Go- 
Daigo  managed  to  communicate  with  his  son,  Mori- 
yoshi,  who  had  become  a  priest,  but  was  at  the  time  in 
hiding  in  a  cave  in  the  mountains  opposite  Oki. 
Through  Moriyoshi  he  corresponded  from  time  to 
time  with  the  most  determined  of  his  military  sup- 
porters, Kusunoki  Masashige,  Avho  had  contrived  to 
keep  the  field  with  a  devoted  band  of  followers,  and 
with  some  among  the  Hojo  adherents  who  were  dis- 
posed to  come  over  to  the  Imperial  cause.  When 
all  was  prepared  he  escaped  from  the  islands  in  a 
fishing-boat.  The  boat  was  pursued  and  overhauled, 
but  his  pursuers  saw  nothing  of  the  Emperor.  He 
lay  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  covered  over  from  head 
to  foot  with  an  evil-smelling  heap  of  dried  cuttle-fish. 
On  landing  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  small 
army,  with  which,  taking  the  Hojo  generals  unawares, 
he  made  a  forced  march  on  Kioto  and  captured  the 
city.  The  troops  sent  against  him  under  the  com- 
mand of  Nitta  Yoshisada  and  Ashikaga  Takauji  came 
over  to  his  side.  This  determined  many  who  had 
been  wavering  to  take  the  same  course  and,  after  a 
short  campaign,  Nitta,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
the  chief  command,  advanced  against  the  regent's 
169 


Sunrise  Stories 

capital,  Kamakura.  The  town  was  divided  into 
wards,  each  separately  fortified.  It  was  taken  by  as- 
sault, ward  after  ward,  with  the  most  desperate  hand- 
to-hand  fighting.  The  ex-regent  Takatoki,  who, 
though  "retired,"  was  the  leading  spirit  of  the 
Kamakura  government,  committed  suicide,  the  town 
was  burned,  and  the  Hojo  domination  was  forever 
ended.  But  not  the  sorrows  of  Go-Daigo.  War 
broke  out  afresh  between  the  victors.  The  see-saw 
of  events  had  brought  the  Minamoto  again  upper- 
most, for  both  Nitta  and  Ashikaga  were  of  that  race. 
But  they  were  of  very  different  dispositions.  Ashi- 
kaga, not  content  with  having  secured  the  lion's  share 
in  the  division  of  the  spoils,  denounced  Nitta  and 
Moriyoshi  to  Go-Daigo,  charging  them  with  conspir- 
ing to  dethrone  him.  Moriyoshi  was  put  in  prison 
and  there  murdered,  but  Nitta  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing the  innocence  of  both,  and  was  commissioned  to 
punish  Ashikaga.  He  was  defeated,  and  the  Em- 
peror was  again  compelled  to  flee  to  Yoshino. 

Ashikaga  made  no  great  effort  to  dislodge  him. 
Nitta  and  Kusunoki,  though  defeated,  still  held  out, 
and  gave  him  other  work  to  do.  At  length  Nitta 
was  killed  in  a  desperate  fight  against  overpowering 
odds  in  Echizen,  and  Kusunoki,  after  three  times 
taking  and  losing  Kioto,  was  finally  routed  at  Hiogo, 
and  committed  hara-kiri.  But  the  Ashikaga  forces 
170 


The  Fighting  Monks 

were  worn  out  with  the  struggle.  Go-Daigo  was  al- 
lowed to  die  peaceably  at  Kasagi  and  to  transmit  the 
Imperial  insignia  to  his  successors,  Go-Murakami  and 
Go-Kameyama,  who  reigned  like  little  kings  of 
Yvetot  over  monks  and  peasants  in  their  happy  val- 
ley, and  had  doubtless  a  much  pleasanter  life  of  it 
than  the  new  line  of  puppets  set  up  at  Kioto  by  the 
Ashikaga.  For  half  a  century  there  were  two  dynas- 
ties in  the  land,  and  a  desultory  warfare  was  carried 
on  between  the  ' '  northern  emperors  ' '  at  Kioto  and 
those  of  the  legitimate  line  at  Kasagi.  It  was  ended 
by  the  southern  emperor,  Go-Kameyama,  abdicating 
in  favor  of  the  northern  emperor,  Go-Komatsu  ;  but 
this  resulted  in  only  a  temporary  cessation  of  hos- 
tilities. 

The  Ashikaga  shoguns,  with  few  exceptions,  were 
even  worse  rulers  than  the  Hojo.  They  built 
"golden"  and  "silver"  palaces  for  themselves  at 
Kioto,  while  the  emperors,  their  near  neighbors, 
were  sunk  in  poverty.  Go-Tsuchimikado,  who  died 
in  1500,  had  to  be  buried  by  charity.  The  military 
governors  were  permitted  to  usurp  all  authority  in 
the  provinces  and  to  establish  themselves  as  heredi- 
tary princes.  Toward  the  end  of  the  period  Japan 
was  broken  up  into  semi-independent  states,  each 
chief  warring  for  his  own  hand,  or,  if  it  seemed 
worth  the  trouble,  setting  up  an  opposition  shogun. 
171 


Sunrise  Stories 

Robbers  infested  the  highways,  pirates  the  seas  and 
inland  waters.  In  many  parts  the  land  lay  untilled  ; 
and  Kioto  was  several  times  sacked  by  hordes  of 
vagabond  monks,  and  masterless  soldiers. 

Yet  never  had  the  great  monasteries  flourished  so. 
Never  had  they  attained  such  a  pitch  of  military 
power.  The  "fighting  abbot,"  Takeda  Shingen, 
conquered  the  two  important  provinces  of  Kai  and 
Shinano ;  the  bonzes  had  made  of  Osaka  the  strong- 
est fortress  in  Japan,  and  the  Court  dared  refuse  no 
demand  of  the  monks  of  Hieisan.  But  for  their 
quarrels  among  themselves,  it  is  impossible  to  say- 
that  a  Buddhist  theocracy  might  not,  at  least  tem- 
porarily, have  been  established.  But  this  was  the 
period  of  the  rise  of  the  great  sects,  and  arguments 
about  the  Way  often  led  to  hostile  raids  and  pitched 
battles.  Because  of  some  doctrinal  dispute  Hieisan 
arose  in  all  her  thirteen  valleys  and  went  forth  to 
smite  Kobukuji ;  and  ardent  followers  of  Nichiren 
and  of  Shinran  forgot  the  teachings  of  Buddha  and 
mauled  one  another  for  the  honor  of  their  respective 
founders.  Matters  were  at  their  worst  when  St. 
Francis  Xavier  and  his  successors  came  to  fight  fire 
with  fire.  The  southern  princes  whom  they  con- 
verted needed  little  urging  to  drive  the  Buddhist 
monks  of  all  sects  from  their  territories.  St.  Francis 
preached  in  Kioto,  which  was  falling  into  ruin,  to  a 
172 


The  Fighting  Monks 

populace  rendered  dull  and  reckless  by  many  dis- 
asters. But  his  disciples  had  wonderful  success  in 
Kiushiu  and  the  nearest  provinces  of  the  main  island. 
It  is  doubtful  how  the  new  religion  was  regarded  by 
the  first  great  pacificator  of  Japan.  He  certainly 
favored  it  in  a  material  way,  and  even  gave  money 
to  build  churches,  but  it  may  have  been  only  be- 
cause he  found  in  Christianity  a  valuable  auxiliary  in 
his  war  against  the  militant  Buddhists. 

Nobunaga  was,  himself,  son  of  a  village  priest 
whom  the  fortunes  of  war  had  elevated  to  be  lord  of 
the  province  of  Owari.  By  hard  fighting  he  added 
the  neighboring  provinces  of  Mino,  Ise,  and  Omi,  to 
that  domain.  His  control  of  the  latter  province 
brought  him  within  striking  distance  of  Kioto  ;  and 
the  murder  of  the  shogun,  an  incident  in  itself  of 
little  importance,  gave  him  an  occasion.  He  entered 
the  capital,  ostensibly  to  punish  the  assassins,  and  to 
secure  the  murdered  man's  brother,  Ashikaga  Yosh- 
iaki,  in  the  shogunate,  but  he  claimed  as  a  reward 
for  his  services  the  position  of  vice-shogun,  with  all 
the  power  belonging  of  right  to  the  higher  office. 
In  a  few  years  he  brought  the  greater  part  of  the 
empire  under  some  sort  of  control.  The  princely 
abbots  of  the  great  monasteries  were  the  hardest  of 
his  opponents  to  subdue.  He  lay  for  months  before 
Osaka,  which  was  defended  by  five  large  castles  con- 

'73 


Sunrise  Stories 

nected  by  intervallations.  Three  of  these  were  cap- 
tured, but  still  the  other  two  held  out.  The  monks, 
threatened  by  famine,  tried  to  break  through  the 
besiegers'  lines  in  a  night  sortie,  but  were  driven 
back  with  terrible  loss.  While  still  held  in  check  at 
Osaka,  Nobunaga  was  threatened  by  the  lord  of 
Echizen  and  the  monks  of  Hieisan,  who  made  an 
unsuccessful  descent  on  the  garrison  that  he  had  left 
at  Kioto.  He  hastened  to  the  relief  of  the  capital, 
defeated  the  confederates,  expelled  the  monks,  and 
gave  the  great  monastery  to  the  flames.  It  was  re- 
vived later,  but  never  regained  a  tenth  part  of  its 
former  importance.  Osaka  surrendered,  and  its  five 
castles  were  razed  to  the  ground. 

But  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  monks  in  the 
day  of  their  greatness  were  wholly  occupied  in  deal- 
ing out  to  right  and  left  apostolic  blows  and  knocks. 
They  not  only  found  time  to  preach  and  teach,  but 
on  the  dancing  stages  in  the  temple  grounds  a  new 
style  of  entertainment  was  evolved  from  the  ancient 
miracle  plays  and  court  dances. 

Mikados  in  exile,  cloistered  emperors,  regents  in 
retreat  did  not  follow  a  very  ascetic  mode  of  life. 
To  amuse  their  monastic  leisure  a  more  dramatic 
form  was  given  to  the  choric  songs  accompanying  the 
old  dances,  then  personages  from  ordinary  life  were 
introduced,  next  these  alone  held  the  stage,  and  the 


The  Fighting  Monks 

dramatic  mime  became  the  farce.  The  monks  used 
these  new  forms  of  literature  to  convey  moral  and 
patriotic  ideas. 

The  "  Pillow  of  Kantamu  "  *  is  adapted  from 
some  Chinese  Buddhist  legend.  Rosei,  a  native  of 
the  feudal  state  of  Shiyoku  (Chinese  Shu),  has  passed 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  indifferent  to  the  teachings 
of  religion.  Now  he  has  turned  pilgrim,  and  for 
many  days  and  nights  has  tramped  it  toward  the 
holy  mountain  of  Yauhi,  in  the  land  of  Ibara,  to 
learn  the  true  doctrine.  At  the  gate  of  Kantamu  he 
is  met  by  the  chorus  bearing  the  celebrated  pillow,  on 
which  whoever  lays  his  head  dreams  that  he  has  ar- 
rived at  the  summit  of  earthly  felicity.  He  lies 
down  to  sleep  while  dinner  is  getting  ready,  and  the 
vision  at  once  begins. 

A  magnificently  clad  individual  approaches.  He 
is  an  ambassador  from  the  King  of  Ibara,  who  makes 
known  that  his  Majesty,  moved  by  the  consideration 
of  the  extraordinary  worth  of  the  pilgrim  Rosei,  has 
abdicated  the  throne  in  his  favor.  This  Rosei  hears, 
dreaming.  Dreaming  he  mounts  the  jewelled  palan- 
quin and  is  borne  to  the  palace,  the  glories  of  which, 
sung  by  the  chorus,  are  otherwise  left  to  his  and  the 

*Of  many  attempted  translations  those  only  that  are  given  by 
Mr.  Chamberlain,  in  his  "  Classical  Poetry  of  the  Japanese,"  can 
be  considered  successful. 

'75 


Sunrise  Stories 

spectators'  imagination.  The  chorus  sings  of  portals 
wrought  with  jade,  of  crowds  of  gift-bearers  passing 
through,  of  courtiers  in  silk,  and  armed  vassals  pacing 
the  great  halls  within.  East  of  the  palace  rises  a 
silver  hill  under  a  golden  sun,  and  to  the  west  a  sil- 
ver moon  shines  down  upon  a  mount  of  gold. 

Rosei  is  now  understood  to  have  entered  the  won- 
derful palace,  and,  in  the  winking  of  an  eye,  fifty  years 
have  passed.  He  fears  he  may  be  growing  old.  But 
now  he  discovers  what  a  treasure  he  has  in  his  prime 
minister,  who  has  prepared  an  elixir  calculated  to  pro- 
long his  life  for  a  millennium.  Rosei  drinks  the  po- 
tion, and,  inspired  by  it,  begins  his  dance. 

Each  round  of  the  dance  represents  a  thousand 
years ;  but,  at  the  end,  the  happy  Rosei  has  only  to 
drink  another  cup  and  shake  his  leg  again.  Mean- 
while, the  magic  vessel  circulates  among  the  guests ; 
the  poorest  of  his  people  drink  long  life  and  happi- 
ness from  it ;  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  renew  their 
youth  at  its  overflowing  fountain  ;  and  all  dance  away 
as  merrily  as  gnats  in  a  sunbeam.  The  seasons  pass 
so  quickly,  each  treads  on  the  other's  heels. 

CHORUS. — "  "Pis  Spring,  for,  hark  !  the  birds  are  calling." 
ROSEI. — "  "Pis  Autumn  ;  see  the  leaves  are  falling." 
CHORUS. — "Nay,  Summer,  'tis." 
ROSEI. — "  Nay,  'tis  not  so ; 

For  all  the  world  is  white  with  snow." 
176 


The  Fighting  Monks 

Faster  and  faster  move  the  dancers.  At  last  Rosei 
forgets  the  cup.  He  wakes  and  finds  that  his  age-long 
reign  has  been  but 

The  dream  of  a  sinner 
While  waiting  for  dinner. 

The  chorus  draw  the  moral — life  is  a  dream  ;  and 
Rosei,  bethinking  himself  that  this  is  the  very  heart 
of  Buddhist  doctrine,  and  that  all  the  sages  of  the 
holy  mountain  can  teach  him  no  more,  abandons  his 
pilgrimage  and  returns  home. 

The  farces  that  serve  as  interludes  between  the  No 
or  mimes  deal  also  frequently  with  Buddhist  themes, 
but  from  a  comic  point  of  view.  The  chorus  is  ab- 
sent, and  the  piece  usually  begins  with  an  explana- 
tory speech  by  the  principal  actor. 

The  husband  in  the  farce  of  ' '  Abstraction  ' '  an- 
nounces that  he  is  in  a  difficulty  from  which  he  can 
see  no  way  of  extricating  himself  save  by  deceiving 
his  wildly  jealous  ''mountain  spirit  "  of  a  wife.  On 
a  journey  from  Kioto  into  Mino  he  had  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  pretty  girl  named  Hana  (Flower), 
and  the  charming  creature  had  taken  so  deep  an  inter- 
est in  him  that  she  had  followed  him  to  the  capital. 
He  had  arranged  to  meet  her  that  same  evening,  but 
his  wife  was  in  a  devil  of  a  temper,  and,  he  feared, 
suspected  something.  He  calls  her. 
177 


Sunrise  Stories 

HUSBAND. — ' '  My  dear,  I  must  immediately  go  on  pilgrim- 
age, and  not  only  to  the  temples  and  shrines  within  the  walls, 
but  also  to  those  in  the  country  round  about,  to  all  of  them,  big 
and  little.  So  I  will  be  away  for  a  long  while.  I  have  had 
such  bad  dreams " 

WIFE. — "Pooh!  Dreams!  Do  not  trouble  about  them.  A 
slight  indigestion.  Or,  if  you  must  take  to  prayers  and  pen- 
ance, kneel  down  here  at  home,  then,  and  burn  incense  on  your 
bare  fore-arm.  I  have  heard  it  is  very  effectual  against  bad 
dreams." 

HUSBAND. — "  So  it  may  be  with  some  persons.  But  to  each 
his  own  physic.  The  penance  you  propose  might  do  for  a 
priest ;  but  for  the  likes  of  me — a  layman  if  ever  there  was 
one — pilgrimages  have  been  instituted." 

WIFE. — ' '  I  will  not  hear  of  it.  Not  out  of  this  door  do  you 
go.  Content  yourself  with  some  devotion  that  can  be  per- 
formed at  home." 

Thus  put  to  it,  the  husband  chooses  what  he  calls 
"a  most  difficult  and  meritorious  sort  of  devotion, 
invented  of  old  by  Saint  Daruma,"  and  which  con- 
sists in  covering  one's  self  up  with  an  "  abstraction 
blanket"  and  forgetting  all  things,  past,  present,  and 
to  come.  Since  the  merit  is  the  greater  the  longer 
he  holds  out,  he  thinks  he  will  require  a  week  or 
two ;  but  the  wife  cuts  him  down  to  a  day  and  a 
night.  He  warns  her  not  to  come  near  him  nor  make 
any  noise  during  that  time,  because,  if  she  should, 
his  efforts  would  be  ineffectual.  "  No  one  can  prac- 
tise abstraction  when  there  is  a  row  in  the  kitchen." 
178 


The  Fighting  Monks 

The  wife  retires  ;  he  calls  his  servant.  He  is  cer- 
tain that,  notwithstanding  her  promise,  his  wife  will 
not  be  able  to  restrain  her  curiosity;  it  is  therefore 
necessary  to  have  somebody  under  the  blanket.  But 
the  servant  dreads  his  mistress's  tongue  so  much  that 
his  master's  stick  has  to  be  produced  to  persuade  him. 
He  is  finally  induced  to  cover  himself  with  the 
blanket,  and  the  husband  joyfully  hastens  away  to 
keep  his  engagement  with  Hana.  Hardly  is  he  gone 
when  the  wife  peeps  in  "to  see  what  it  looks  like." 
It  looks  very  uncomfortable ;  and,  excusing  herself  on 
the  score  of  her  anxiety,  she  proffers  a  cup  of  hot  tea. 
Taro,  under  the  blanket,  shakes  his  head,  by  way  of 
an  answer.  She  suggests  that  he  at  least  take  off  the 
blanket  for  a  moment,  and  Taro  shakes  his  head  more 
vigorously  than  before.  At  this  she  gets  angry, 
snatches  away  the  blanket,  and  discovers  the  servant. 
To  save  himself  Taro  makes  a  clean  breast  of  it,  and 
the  angry  wife  commands  him  to  let  her  take  his 
place.  By  the  time  the  change  is  effected  the  hus- 
band returns,  singing  and  slightly  intoxicated.  Upon 
entering  he  sits  down  and  gives  the  supposed  Taro  a 
full  account  of  the  clever  sayings  and  doings  of  the 
pretty  Hana ;  how  she  had  pressed  him  to  drink ; 
how  she  had  felt  sorry  for  the  poor  little  Tarokaja  left 
at  home  under  a  nasty  old  blanket  ;  how  she  had 
blamed  the  heartless  priests  who  set  the  temple  bells 
179 


Sunrise  Stories 

a-ringing  so  early  in  the  morning.  Finally,  having 
finished  his  story,  he  tells  Taro  to  uncover  himself. 
There  is  no  response.  He  begs,  he  commands,  he 
tears  away  the  blanket — and  is  driven  from  the  stage 
with  resounding  thwacks  by  his  justly  indignant 
spouse. 


180 


XV 
THE   GOLDEN  CALABASHES 

THE  work  of  pacification  and  consolidation  begun 
by  Nobunaga  was  continued  by  his  lieutenants,  Hide- 
yoshi  and  leyasu,  and  finished  by  the  latter. 

Hideyoshi,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  characters 
in  history,  was  the  son  of  a  peasant  of  the  village  of 
Nakamura.  He  entered  Nobunaga' s  service  as  a  betto 
or  stable  -  boy  ;  but  in  the  petty  wars  which  that 
chieftain  was  then  carrying  on  against  his  neighbors 
of  Omi  and  Mino  his  cunning  and  intrepidity  gained 
him  a  small  command.  His  skill  in  strategy  grew 
with  the  extent  of  the  field  of  his  operations.  The 
soldier's  water-gourd,  which  he  had  hoisted  for  his 
ensign  in  place  of  the  aristocratic  mon,  was  joined 
by  another  after  every  victory ;  and  the  portentous 
bunch  of  calabashes  grew  and  grew  until  it  might  be 
thought  a  happy  symbol  of  the  union  into  which  he 
was  to  bind  the  struggling  principalities. 

He  was  of  diminutive  stature,  ugly  and  ill-formed, 
but  had  fine  eyes,  and  at  times  a  pleasant  smile  over- 
came the  evil  impression  produced  by  his  physical 
181 


Sunrise  Stories 

defects.  His  soldiers  were  never  tired  of  inventing 
affectionate  nicknames  for  him  ;  his  enemies,  after  he 
had  become  their  master,  called  him  the  "  crowned 
monkey."  He  himself,  having  never  had  a  family 
name,  indulged  in  a  profusion  of  aliases.  The  name 
by  which  he  is  best  known  was  adopted  in  1562.  In 
1591,  on  his  retirement  to  private  life,  he  took  the 
title  of  Taiko,  and  is  often  referred  to  as  Taiko  Sama, 
or  My  Lord  Taiko.  Examples  of  the  peasant  humor 
which  endeared  him  to  his  men  are  preserved  in 
numerous  anecdotes.  When  the  superstitions  of  his 
followers  proved  an  obstacle  to  his  plans  he  was  ac- 
customed to  address  a  confidential  letter  to  some  su- 
perior divinity,  requesting  him  to  be  so  good  as  to 
see  that  none  of  his  subordinates  were  permitted  to 
make  trouble.  One  of  these  epistles,  addressed  to  the 
God  of  Rice,  is  still  preserved  at  the  Todaiji,  at  Nara. 
It  throws  a  curious  light  on  a  superstition  which  still 
exists  in  country  places  in  Japan.  Foxes,  which  are 
supposed  to  be  the  servants  and  messengers  of  the  rice 
god,  are  believed  also  to  have  the  power  of  bewitch- 
ing people.  One  of  Hideyoshi's  servants  imagined 
herself  a  subject  of  vulpine  possession,  and  occasioned 
much  trouble  in  the  household ;  and  the  letter  asks 
the  god  to  institute  strict  inquiries  into  the  matter 
and  to  arrest  and  punish  the  particular  fox  inculpated, 
should  it  appear  that  he  had  no  good  reason  to  offer 
182 


The  Golden  Calabashes 

for  his  conduct.  This,  no  doubt,  had  the  effect  of 
calming  the  woman's  fears  and  so  expelling  the  demon. 
On  another  occasion,  some  boatmen  employed  to 
transport  a  number  of  cavalry  horses  across  an  arm 
of  the  sea  demurred,  saying  that  the  sea-god,  Ryugu, 
would  be  angry.  Hideyoshi,  instead  of  resorting  to 
force,  as  Nobunaga  would  have  done,  had  a  letter  in- 
dited to  the  "  Honorable  Mr.  Ryugu,"  informing 
him  that  the  men  were  acting  in  the  service  of  the 
Mikado,  and  asking  him  to  take  measures  to  insure 
their  safe  passage  across  his  domain.  After  having 
been  read  to  the  seamen,  the  letter  was  thrown  into 
the  water ;  and,  confident  that  the  god  would  not 
now  molest  them,  the  men  performed  the  required 
service  cheerfully  and  without  compulsion. 

The  death  of  Nobunaga  was  the  turning-point  in 
Hideyoshi's  career.  The  former  was  on  his  way  to  aid 
Hideyoshi  in  the  siege  of  a  rebel  castle  in  Chikugo 
when,  learning  of  a  commotion  in  the  palace  at  Kioto, 
he  turned  aside  with  a  small  escort  to  restore  order. 
He  lodged  for  the  night  at  the  monastery  of  Honnoji. 
Ake'chi  Mitsuhide,  one  of  his  captains,  whom  he  had 
mortified  by  making  him  the  victim  of  some  ill-timed 
horse-play,  took  this  opportunity  to  have  revenge. 
He,  too,  left  the  line  of  march  with  the  contingent 
under  his  command,  all  probably  his  own  clansmen, 
surrounded  the  Honnoji  in  the  night,  and  set  the 
183 


Sunrise  Stories 

buildings  on  fire.  Seeing  that  escape  was  impossible, 
Nobunaga  committed  hara-kiri. 

Hideyoshi,  immediately  on  receiving  the  news, 
transmitted  it  to  the  chiefs  who  were  opposing  him. 
They  might,  he  said,  have  either  a  temporary  or  a 
permanent  peace.  In  any  case  he  was  obliged  to 
raise  the  siege  in  order  to  punish  the  traitor,  Akdchi ; 
but,  should  they  fail  to  come  to  terms  with  him  then, 
he  would  return  later  with  all  Japan  at  his  back. 
His  frankness  had  the  desired  effect.  The  beleaguered 
chiefs,  who  would  undoubtedly  have  fallen  upon  his 
rear  had  they  been  left  to  guess  the  reason  for  his  re- 
treat, saw  that  they  could  not  prevent  his  effecting  a 
junction  with  Nobunaga's  army,  and  that,  therefore, 
his  threat  was  no  idle  one.  They  accepted  his  over- 
tures, and  joined  his  party. 

Eager  to  reach  Kioto,  Hideyoshi  hurried  on  in  ad- 
vance of  his  army,  and  narrowly  escaped  being  trapped 
like  Nobunaga.  Near  a  small  Shinto  temple,  called 
Nishi-no-miya,  he  stumbled  upon  an  advanced  post 
of  Akechi's  force,  and  in  the  fight  was  separated 
from  his  body-guard.  A  narrow  causeway  led  through 
rice-swamps  to  the  temple.  He  urged  his  horse 
along  it,  and,  when  near  the  enclosure,  dismounted 
and  sent  the  animal,  mad  with  pain  from  a  stab  in 
the  hindquarter,  galloping  back  upon  the  enemy. 
Having  thus  gained  a  few  moments'  time,  he  ran  into 
184 


The  Golden  Calabashes 

the  temple,  where  the  priests  were  taking  their  daily 
bath.  Disrobing,  he  plunged  in  among  them,  and 
his  pursuers,  failing  to  recognize  him,  continued  their 
search  in  other  quarters.  Meanwhile,  the  main  body 
of  his  guards  came  up,  and  Akechi's  men  were  obliged 
to  flee. 

Akechi  ruled  but  twelve  days  at  Kioto.  Hide- 
yoshi's  army  met  his  on  the  banks  of  the  Yodogawa 
and  administered  a  crushing  defeat.  The  traitor  es- 
caped from  the  field,  but  only  to  be  mortally  wounded 
by  a  peasant  with  a  pitchfork.  He  committed  hara- 
kiri,  and  his  head  was  taken  to  Kioto,  where  it  was 
impaled  on  the  spot  where  Nobunaga  had  died.  A 
number  of  successful  campaigns  against  his  former 
brothers-in-arms,  who  thought  themselves  better  quali- 
fied than  he  to  exercise  the  supreme  command,  ended 
in  the  submission  of  most  of  them.  Hideyoshi  was 
honored  by  the  Emperor  with  the  highest  titles  in  his 
gift,  and  for  a  few  years  Japan  was  at  peace  under 
the  bunch  of  calabashes,  now  wrought  in  gold  and 
figured  among  the  crests  of  the  great  families. 

Recent  events  give  uncommon  interest  to  Hide- 
yoshi's  invasion  of  Korea,  which  he  undertook  in 
1592,  probably  with  the  idea  of  keeping  his  trouble- 
some subordinates  employed  at  a  distance.  But  his 
boast  that  he  could  conquer  China  and  Korea  as 
easily  as  a  man  could  roll  up  an  old  mat  and  carry  it 
185 


Sunrise  Stories 

off  under  his  arm  shows  little  respect  for  the  fighting 
capacity  of  the  continentals.  At  first  the  Japanese 
invaders  carried  all  before  them,  but  dissensions 
broke  out  between  their  generals,  one  of  whom,  Ko- 
nishi,  was  a  Christian,  and  another,  Kato  Kiyomasa, 
a  determined  Christian  hater.  These  two  tried  in 
everything  to  hamper  and  interfere  with  one  another, 
with  the  result  that  their  armies  were  beaten  in  de- 
tail by  the  large  Chinese  forces  sent  against  them. 
Hideyoshi  was  compelled  to  negotiate  a  peace.  But 
his  wrath  was  excited  by  an  attempt  of  the  Chinese 
to  set  up  a  sort  of  suzerainty  over  Japan  by  pretend- 
ing to  invest  him  with  the  title  of  king.  He  tore  up 
the  precious  document  which  would  have  made  him 
China's  vassal,  sent  the  envoys  home  in  disgrace,  and 
despatched  reinforcements  to  Korea.  He  died  while 
the  success  of  his  ambitious  scheme  was  still  doubtful, 
and  his  brother-in-law,  Tokugawa  leyasu,  recalled  the 
troops.  The  invasion  of  Korea  had  no  further  result 
to  Japan  (if  we  disregard  the  continuance  of  peace 
within  her  own  borders)  than  the  acquisition  of  nu- 
merous skilled  Korean  potters  and  other  artisans, 
who  were  induced  by  their  conquerors  to  settle  in 
the  southern  provinces.  The  establishment  of  the 
first  kilns  for  porcelain  and  for  the  highly  prized 
faience  of  Satsuma  is  attributed  to  these  Koreans ; 
and  the  politic  Taiko  provided  a  market  for  their 
186 


The  Golden  Calabashes 

wares,  and  at  the  same  time  promoted  his  policy  of 
internal  peace  by  instituting  an  elaborate  tea-drinking 
ceremonial.  He  also  encouraged  his  warriors  to  pass 
their  leisure  in  writing  verses;  nevertheless,  Hide- 
yoshi's  generals  sent  across  from  Chemulpo  a  junk- 
load  of  pickled  ears  and  noses  of  Chinese  soldiers, 
which  were  buried  at  a  spot  still  called  the  "  Ear 
Mound ' '  at  Kioto.  Other  times,  other  manners. 
Japanese  armies  of  to-day  carry  civilization  to  China 
and  Korea  and  send  home  no  ghastly  trophies  of 
their  victories. 


187 


XVI 

THE   PIPING  TIMES  OF  THE   TOKUGAWA 

THOUGH  claiming  descent  from  a  branch  of  the 
Minamoto,  leyasu,  at  the  outset  of  his  career,  was 
but  the  laird  of  the  small  border  castle  of  Matsudaira. 
After  Nobunaga's  death  he  had  at  first  opposed  Hide- 
yoshi,  but  made  peace  at  a  moment  so  opportune 
that  the  Taiko  rewarded  him  with  the  hand  of  his 
peasant  sister  and  the  government  of  the  Kuanto,  the 
rich  plain  surrounding  the  bay  of  Yedo.  When  at 
the  point  of  death  he  appointed  him  guardian  of  his 
young  son,  Hideyori,  naming,  at  the  same  time,  a 
council,  with  whose  assistance  leyasu  was  to  govern 
the  empire.  His  opponents  in  the  council,  charging 
him  with  disloyalty,  took  up  arms  against  him,  but 
were  routed  at  the  decisive  battle  of  Sekigahara,  in 
October,  1600,  by  which  he  became  sole  ruler  of 
Japan.  Named  shogun  in  1603,  he  captured  and 
burned  the  castle  of  Osaka,  rebuilt  by  Hideyoshi,  in 
1615,  and  his  young  ward  and  rival,  Hideyori,  is 
believed  to  have  perished  in  the  flames.  Such  was 
the  origin  of  the  great  Tokugawa  dynasty  of  shoguns 
188 


The  Piping  Times  of  the  Tokugawa 

which,  profiting  by  work  accomplished  by  Nobunaga 
and  Hideyoshi,  consolidated  feudal  Japan  and  ruled 
the  country  down  to  our  own  days. 

The  frightful  state  of  the  empire  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Tokugawa  regime  is  naively  portrayed  in  the 
true  tale  of  Granny  Hikone,*  as  written  down  from 
memory  by  her  grandson.  Her  father  was  a  gentle- 
man who  had  seen  service  in  the  wars  of  Hideyoshi. 
His  holding,  which  would  have  provided  a  comfort- 
able living  in  later  and  more  peaceful  times,  owing 
to  high  prices  and  the  frequent  disturbances  which 
prevented  his  reaching  a  market  for  his  produce,  did 
not  suffice  to  keep  his  family  from  the  direst  poverty. 
The  daughter  grew  up  to  womanhood  with  but  one 
cotton  frock  to  wear,  which  at  last  "did  not  cover 
her  shins."  After  Sekigahara,  their  feudal  lord  still 
held  out  against  leyasu.  His  castle  was  invested, 
and  the  family,  with  those  of  the  other  samurai,  was 
shut  up  within  it.  The  women  and  children  were 
permitted  to  occupy  the  lookout  tower.  Cannon 
were  by  that  time  in  use,  and  notice  was  regularly 
given  them  when  the  guns  were  about  to  be  fired, 
that  they  might  not  be  frightened  by  the  noise.  At 
first  the  besiegers  were  not  supplied  with  artillery, 
but  after  a  week  or  so  they  mounted  a  battery,  and 

*See  "  Mistress  An's  Narrative,"  translated  by  Professor  Cham- 
berlain in  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Japan,  vol.  viii. 
189 


Sunrise  Stories 

one  day,  after  the  usual  assurance  had  been  given 
that  there  was  nothing  to  fear,  this  battery  opened 
fire  in  reply  to  a  shot  from  the  castle,  a  ball  came 
crashing  through  the  tower  wall  and  killed  Granny's 
younger  brother,  who  was  standing  by  her  side. 

The  women  were  not  without  occupation,  but  it 
was  seldom  of  a  cheerful  character.  They  cast  bullets 
and  prepared  lint;  and,  after  a  sortie,  the  soldiers 
would  bring  them  the  heads  they  had  taken  to  wash 
and  prepare  them  for  the  commandant's  inspection. 
Sometimes  they  would  be  requested  to  secretly 
blacken  the  teeth  that  the  head  might  be  taken  for 
that  of  a  person  of  distinction  ;  for  this  curious  cus- 
tom, usually  confined  to  married  women,  was  prac- 
tised at  the  time,  as  a  piece  of  foppery,  by  the  men 
of  some  of  the  leading  families.  "  We  were  not  in 
the  least  afraid  of  the  heads,"  quoth  Granny,  "and 
used  to  sleep  with  a  number  of  them  on  the  floor  and 
the  room  full  of  the  smell  of  blood." 

A  big  breach  was  at  last  made  in  the  outer  walls 
of  the  castle ;  it  was  assaulted  in  the  night  and  taken, 
and  the  garrison  put  to  the  sword.  But  Mistress  An 
(such  was  Granny's  proper  appellation)  was  spared 
the  distressing  sight.  The  old  samurai,  her  father, 
had  been  leyasu's  writing  master,  and  his  pupil  held 
him  in  affectionate  remembrance.  The  day  before 
the  assault,  he  was  warned  by  a  letter  tied  to  an  ar- 
190 


The  Piping  Times  of  the  Tokugawa 

row,  and  was  assured  of  safety  for  himself  and  his 
family,  could  he  manage  to  leave  the  castle  in  time. 
They  escaped  at  midnight,  crossing  the  moat  in  a 
tub,  and  spent  the  night  wandering  in  the  rice- 
swamps.  "Yes,  indeed,"  would  Granny  say,  "such 
were  the  good  old  times  !  ' ' 

The  real  life-work  of  leyasu  began  after  the  battle 
of  Sekigahara,  and  was  continued  and  completed  by 
his  successors,  Hidetada  and  lyemitsu.  He  took  care 
not  to  make  desperate  enemies  of  those  that  he  had 
conquered,  leaving  them  some  of  their  possessions ; 
but  he  confiscated  territory  enough  to  reward  his  own 
adherents.  Japan  under  the  feudal  system,  as  finally 
settled  by  the  three  first  Tokugawa  rulers,  was  divided 
into  about  nine  thousand  petty  fiefs  and  two  hundred 
and  sixty  greater,  the  rulers  of  which  had  absolute 
power  within  their  own  boundaries,  but  were  obliged 
to  pay  tribute  and  to  furnish  troops  to  the  shogun. 
lyemitsu,  in  addition,  imposed  the  obligation  upon 
the  feudal  lords,  or  daimio,  of  residing  part  of  each 
year  at  Yedo,  where  they  were  required  to  maintain 
residences.  The  governed  were  divided  into  the 
four  classes  of  samurai,  or  gentlemen  soldiers,  who 
held  lands  by  military  service  and  had  many  privi- 
leges, farmers,  artisans,  including  artists,  and,  in  the 
lowest  grade,  merchants.  Each  lord  was  guaranteed 
aid  against  any  other  who  might  seek  to  rob  him  of 
191 


Sunrise  Stories 

his  possessions,  so  long  as  he  on  his  side  remained 
in  obedience  to  the  shogun. 

Strictly  speaking,  leyasu  established  no  code  of 
laws  to  govern  the  relations  of  the  ruling  class  with 
the  common  people,  but  in  his  celebrated  book  of 
Institutes  he  advises  his  successors  in  the  shogunate 
to  care  for  the  well-being  of  the  people  at  large,  to 
put  down  the  practice  of  suicide,  which  was  becoming 
extremely  prevalent,  to  restrict  foreign  commerce, 
and  to  suppress  Christianity.  The  right  of  a  subject 
of  a  daimio  to  petition  the  shogun  was  acknowledged, 
but  it  was  always  dangerous  to  exercise  it.  In  civil 
cases,  a  body  of  precedents  gradually  grew  up  and 
ruled  judicial  procedure  until  the  adoption  of  the 
Napoleonic  Code  in  recent  years. 

This  may  seem  a  crude  form  of  government,  but 
under  it  the  state  of  the  country  rapidly  improved. 
Daimios  were  no  longer  permitted  to  make  war  upon 
one  another,  and  to  drive  even  their  own  vassals  to 
rebellion  by  harsh  treatment  might  bring  down  upon 
them  the  heavy  hand  of  the  shogun.  Internal  com- 
merce therefore  prospered,  though  foreign  trade  was 
confined  to  the  single  port  of  Nagasaki.  The  lower 
classes  grew  in  wealth  and  intelligence.  The  idle 
samurai  turned,  some  of  them,  to  evil  courses,  but  the 
majority  to  study  and  martial  exercises.  The  lesser 
arts  received  a  degree  of  development  seldom  matched 
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The  Piping  Times  of  the  Tokugawa 

elsewhere.  The  government  sedulously  encouraged 
the  study  of  the  Confucian  books,  which  taught  the 
rule  of  absolute  obedience  to  master,  father,  and 
husband ;  but  there  still  were  here  and  there,  even  in 
the  Tokugawa  family  itself,  students  of  the  old  classics 
of  Japan,  who  made  reverence  of  the  almost  forgotten 
Mikado  the  one  rule  of  life. 

With  such  matters  the  populace  of  the  large  cities 
had  little  concern.  They  were  nearly  all  Buddhists, 
and  they  had  no  interest  in  politics.  But  they  had, 
in  common  with  those  above  them  in  station,  a  pas- 
sionate desire  for  amusement,  excitement,  and  aesthet- 
ic enjoyment,  and  with  the  advance  in  general  pros- 
perity they  found  means  to  gratify  it.  A  new  and 
popular  literature  grew  up.  The  romantic  drama  and 
the  novel  of  adventure  made  their  appearance,  and 
scores  of  clever  artists  devoted  their  talents  to  por- 
traying the  most  noted  actors  in  their  favorite  roles, 
to  illustrating  the  novels  of  Bakin,  the  laborious  life 
of  the  common  people,  and  every -day  scenes  in  Yedo 
and  along  the  great  routes.  The  characteristic  lit- 
erature of  the  time  is  the  subject  of  the  next  three 
chapters.  In  this  it  may  be  well  to  show  the  re- 
lation to  that  literature  of  those  artists  of  the  popular 
school  who,  beyond  all  others,  have  made  Japan 
known  to  Western  peoples. 

Like  the  dramatists  and  the  novelists,  their  con- 


Sunrise  Stories 

temporaries,  these  artists  worked  for  the  masses. 
Still,  as  to  technique,  the  only  change  from  the 
practice  of  the  more  ancient  schools  was  toward 
greater  refinement.  In  design  the  three  distinct 
manners  already  noted  continued  to  prevail.  There 
were  the  bold  effective  illuminations  of  the  Buddhist 
school,  the  brush  play  of  the  Chinese,  and  the  minute 
and  delicate  miniature  style  associated  more  especially 
with  the  Yamato-Tosa  school,  but  which  originated 
also  in  China.  But  as  to  subjects,  they  were  wholly 
taken  from  common  life,  and  direct  comparison  with 
nature  tended  to  soften  and  break  down  traditional 
distinctions,  to  fuse  styles  and  genres  and  to  loosen 
the  hold  of  established  conventions  on  the  artistic  con- 
science. Artists  went  all  lengths  to  study  their  chosen 
subjects  from  nature.  There  are  stories  of  a  painter 
of  moonlight  scenes,  Buson,  who,  to  observe  his 
favorite  luminary  more  at  his  ease,  burned  a  hole  in 
the  thatch  of  his  hut,  and,  failing  to  check  the  fire  in 
time,  set  half  Kioto  in  a  blaze;  and  of  another, 
Sosen,  who  dwelt  for  a  whole  year  with  the  monkeys 
in  the  forest  of  Osaka,  adopting,  so  the  story  goes, 
their  mode  of  life,  the  better  to  portray  them.  This 
character  of  naturalism  and  refined  technique  is  com- 
mon to  all  the  art  of  the  period.  Works  in  metal, 
lacquer,  porcelain,  ivory,  the  sculpture  of  the  friezes 
of  Nikko,  and  netsukes  an  inch  in  diameter,  alike 
194 


The  Piping  Times  of  the  Tokugawa 

share  it ;  but  it  is  principally  evident  in  the  paint- 
ings and  books  of  images,  the  designs  of  which  were 
indeed  the  originals  that  were  followed  by  sculptors, 
potters,  and  metal  -  workers.  That  sympathy  with 
nature  which  is  one  of  the  best  results  of  Buddhist 
teaching  in  the  far  East  took  an  unexpected  turn  in 
these  productions.  The  artists  of  the  Tokugawa 
time  were  not  given  to  melancholy  musings.  The 
stream  of  life  seemed  to  them  to  flow  on  its  myste- 
rious course  merrily  enough.  Commonplaces  about 
the  shortness  of  life  they  answered  with  the  assertion 
that  life  is  good  while  it  lasts.  What  they  loved 
above  all  in  nature  were  the  manifestations  of  that 
life  which  appeared  to  them  so  bright,  so  amusing, 
so  well  worth  living. 

The  writer  of  the  preface  to  one  of  Hokusai's 
volumes  of  sketches  tells  us  that  all  that  attracted 
and  interested  that  versatile  artist,  the  features  and 
the  gestures  of  men,  the  aspects  of  mountains  and 
waterfalls,  of  trees  and  flowers,  each  with  its  physiog- 
nomy, its  individual  expression,  birds,  reptiles,  fishes, 
each  living  its  proper  life,  appeared  to  him  to  show 
such  an  abundance  of  happiness  that  it  rejoiced  his 
heart.  It  was  true  all  was  fated  to  pass  away,  but 
the  thought  only  spurred  him  to  attempt  to  transmit 
to  posterity  some  image  of  the  joy  which  appeared  to 
him  to  fill  the  universe. 


Sunrise  Stories 

Another  preface-writer  testifies  to  the  naturalness 
of  Hokusai's  drawings. 

"The  young  folk,  who  are  continually  tramping 
about,"  he  writes,  "  tell  me  how  they  crossed  yester- 
day the  Fukagawa,  how  to-day  they  have  been  to 
hear  the  cuckoos  on  the  heath  of  Asajihara,  and 
they  rattle  off  the  names  of  many  other  pleasant 
places ;  and  now  they  would  have  me  rise  from  my 
seat  by  the  window  where  I  have  been  lazily  spend- 
ing the  morning  to  go  with  them  on  some  other  ex- 
cursion. Softly,  my  young  friends  !  I  may  have  a 
manner  of  voyaging  of  my  own.  Behold  !  I  have 
already  set  out.  Already  I  see  the  foliage  of  the  trees 
a-tremble;  the  soft  white  clouds  in  the  blue  sky 
grouping  themselves  fantastically.  I  ramble  here  and 
there,  aimless,  without  an  object.  Now  I  cross  the 
monkey's  bridge  over  the  chasm,  and  listen  to  the 
echo  repeat  the  cry  of  the  wild  stork.  Now  I  am  in 
the  cherry-groves  of  Owari.  Above  the  mists  that 
ride  on  the  waves  of  Miho  I  see  the  dark  forms  of  the 
famous  pine-trees  of  Suminoye.  Again,  I  stand 
trembling  on  the  narrow  bridge  of  Kaneji,  or  heark- 
en to  the  roaring  of  the  cataract  of  Ono.  I  start.  It 
is  but  a  dream  that  I  have  dreamt,  with  this  volume 
of  Hokusai  under  my  head  for  a  pillow." 

Tt  is  plain  that  the  artists  were  on  very  good  terms 
•with  their  publishers  and  with  the  writers  who  fur- 
196 


The  Piping  Times  of  the  Tokugawa 

nished  these  enthusiastic  prefaces,  and  who  invented 
such  taking  titles  for  picture  books  as  "  The  Sparrows 
of  Yedo,"  "  The  Dust  of  Yedo  "  (a  book  of  street- 
scenes),  "Nature  in  White"  (snow-scenes),  and 
"Actors  on  a  Holiday."  Often  the  designer  lived 
in  his  publisher's  house  as  a  member  of  his  family,  as 
did  Utamaro,  for  many  years  of  his  life.  Others,  like 
Hokusai  and  Hiroshige,  wandered  about  a  great  deal, 
sketching  as  they  went.  One  of  the  former's  hosts, 
a  preface-writer,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that 
during  a  visit  of  a  few  days  Hokusai  turned  out  more 
than  three  hundred  sketches.  In  return  for  their 
clever  puffs  and  other  good  offices,  the  artists  illus- 
trated the  authors  of  the  time,  and  so  have  kept  alive 
many  a  mediocre  book  of  poems,  many  a  pointless 
essay  and  trifle  light  as  air.  It  was  a  time  of  collec- 
tions and  books  of  elegant  extracts,  to  which  the 
compilers  gave  fanciful  names,  such  as  "  A  Thousand 
Roses,  Ten  Thousand  Violets,"  "The  Maple  Leaf 
Brocade  of  Poetry,"  and  "  Little  Garret  Library  of 
Song. ' '  Authors  were  strictly  forbidden  to  take  their 
characters  from  real  life  or  to  refer  to  any  public  event 
of  the  day.  The  more  serious  were  thrown  back  on 
the  moving  scenes  of  the  civil  wars,  or  upon  the 
glories  of  the  ancient  Empire,  the  less  talented  or  less 
learned  turned  to  the  lightest  of  light  literature,  to 
essays  about  nothing,  "  Memoirs  of  a  Grasshopper," 
197 


Sunrise  Stories 

almanacs,  guide-books,  all  with  some  pretensions  to  a 
literary  style,  and  all  profusely  illustrated.  But  the 
artists  were  comparatively  free.  They  might  poke 
fun  with  the  point  of  their  brush  at  priest  and  daimio, 
hold  up  the  mirror  of  art  to  contemporary  life,  both 
public  and  private,  pass  from  the  Yoshiwara  to  the 
Yashiki,  from  the  temple  to  the  tea-house,  picture  the 
black-hooded  geisha  on  her  way  to  an  all-night  enter- 
tainment, the  nun  at  her  prayers,  the  woman  of  the 
people  at  her  daily  tasks,  the  poetess  at  her  writing- 
table.  For  the  manners  of  the  period  one  must  turn, 
not  to  its  literature,  but  to  these  books  of  sketches 
and  albums  of  colored  prints.  Hiroshige  pictures  the 
"Fifty-three  Stations  of  the  Tokaido,"  the  great 
highway  between  Yedo  and  Kioto;  Hokusai,  "  The 
Hundred  Views  of  Fujiyama;  "  Harunobu,  the 
"  Manners  and  Customs  of  Women ;  "  Utamaro,  the 
twenty-four  hours  of  the  day  in  the  Yoshiwara ; 
Kiyonaga,  the  "Festivals  of  Yedo;  "  Toyokuni,  the 
antics  of  a  company  of  actors  on  a  holiday.  Innu- 
merable were  the  picture-books  of  plants  and  flowers, 
birds  and  insects,  shells  and  fishes,  landscapes,  illus- 
trations of  manufactures,  agriculture,  and  industries. 
Silk-worm  raising  and  the  silk  manufacture,  dyeing 
and  embroidering,  the  manufacture  of  arms  and  ar- 
mor, the  raising  of  the  staple  crops  of  rice,  tea,  to- 
bacco, millet,  all  furnished  themes  for  the  artist's 
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nimble  pencil.  And  when  at  a  loss  for  new  subjects, 
he  might  turn  to  the  processes  of  his  own  craft  and 
illustrate,  as  Utamaro  has  done,  the  "  Cultivation  of 
the  Picture  Crop  at  Yedo."  Many  of  these  impres- 
sions are  among  the  finest  examples  of  color-printing 
that  the  world  has  known,  and  the  effect  was  often 
heightened  by  artistic  goffering  of  the  paper.  But 
the  hundreds  of  offhand  sketches,  "done  with  one 
stroke  of  the  brush,"  offer  the  most  amusing,  and  of- 
ten the  most  valuable,  records  of  the  time.  Hokusai's 
"  Mangwa,"  in  especial,  enjoys  a  richly  deserved  rep- 
utation as  the  most  astonishing  collection  of  artis- 
tic jottings  that  has  ever  been  produced.  Grotesque 
illustrations  of  the  ancient  legends,  dreams  of  the 
smoker,  fancies  of  enormous  glow-worms  descend- 
ing to  the  earth  as  flashes  of  lightning,  of  mon- 
strous eels  escaping  from  their  captors,  of  gigantic 
cuttle-fish  pursuing  terrified  farmers,  who  throw  down 
their  hoes  and  run  for  their  lives,  alternate  with 
comic  incidents  of  ordinary  life  :  the  fisher  whose 
hook  catches  in  his  attendant's  hair,  the  burgher  who 
takes  a  girdle  hung  out  to  dry  on  a  bamboo  for  a  ghost, 
the  school-girl  whose  papers  are  carried  away  by  the 
wind,  the  servant  detected  in  stealing  a  toothsome 
morsel  by  her  shadow  being  thrown  upon  the  paper 
screen  behind  which  she  is  hiding.  The  imaginings 
of  foolish  minds  are  frequent  sources  of  merriment  to 
199 


Sunrise  Stories 

Hokusai.  The  lazy  rice-grinder,  as  he  lifts  his  pestle, 
feels  it  grow  heavier  and  heavier ;  surely  it  has  stuck 
fast  to  the  rice,  and  the  rice  to  the  mortar,  and,  if 
his  wife  does  not  exert  all  her  strength  to  keep  the 
latter  down,  he  will  never  get  it  clear !  The  tea- 
house servant  chopping  up  eels  for  dinner  sees  them 
sprout  from  the  willow  branches  ;  the  lone  widower, 
as  his  tea-pot  boils  over,  sees  the  pool  expanded  into 
a  lake,  across  which  sails  the  Ship  of  Good  Fortune 
with  a  new  bride  surrounded  by  bales  of  silk  and 
boxes  of  ointments,  while  a  pair  of  sake  jars,  with 
cups  for  wings,  fly  on  in  advance  to  herald  her 
coming. 

Political  and  religious  freedom  were  unknown,  for- 
eign commerce  was  prohibited,  education  was  con- 
fined to  the  old  Chinese-Japanese  curriculum,  the 
swords  of  the  samurai  grew  rusty;  but  no  nation 
ever  enjoyed  a  more  materially  happy  and  amusing 
existence  than  did  the  Japanese  during  the  two  cen- 
turies and  a  half  of  the  Tokugawa  s\vay.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  period  the  blessings  of  peace  began  to 
be  followed  by  the  curses.  The  country  was  centu- 
ries behind  the  rest  of  the  world  in  the  arts  of  govern- 
ment and  of  war ;  most  of  the  ruling  class  were  sunk 
in  sloth  and  incapacity,  and  the  more  energetic 
among  them  secretly  advocated  a  return  to  the  an- 
cient constitution  of  the  Empire.  But  the  arts  profited 

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to  the  last  by  the  long  peace,  and  every  handicraft 
had  become  artistic.  In  the  cities,  the  year  was  one 
round  of  festivals.  Every  month  had  its  special 
flower-show,  every  trade  its  saint's  or  god's  day, 
every  temple  its  particular  ceremony.  It  was  a  true 
Land  of  Cocaigne,  watched  over  by  its  seven  jolly 
household  gods,  Yebisu,  the  fisherman  ;  Daikoku,  the 
farmer ;  Eenten,  Bishamon,  Jurojin,  Hotei,  and  Fu- 
kurokuju. 


201 


XVII 


ONCE  upon  a  time,  a  pretty  dancing-girl  named 
Okuni,  belonging  to  the  great  temple  at  Kitsuki,  fell 
in  love  with  a  swaggering  soldier,  and  ran  away  with 
him  to  Kioto.  The  man  was  a  sort  of  free  lance,  a 
ronin,  or  "  wave-man."  *  Perhaps  his  chief  had  been 
slain,  his  clan  broken  up  and  scattered  in  the  course 
of  the  civil  wars ;  perhaps  he  had  been  dismissed  his 
lord's  service  in  disgrace  ;  perhaps  he  had  voluntarily 
embraced  a  roving  life,  in  order  that  those  to  whom 
he  owed  fealty  might  not  be  held  accountable  for 
some  foolhardy  act  of  his.  At  any  rate,  he  was  ready 
with  his  sword.  On  their  way  to  Kioto,  the  pair  fell 
in  with  another  member  of  the  class,  who  travelled 
for  a  while  in  their  company,  until  vagabond  number 
one  grew  jealous  of  vagabond  number  two,  and  ran 
him  through  the  body.  At  Kioto,  from  time  im- 
memorial, part  of  the  gravelly  bed  of  the  river  Kamo 
had  been  reserved  as  a  place  for  fairs  and  popu- 

"The  term  is  the  literal  equivalent  of  our  "  vagabond."    But 
a  ronin  was  always  a  ci-devant  gentleman. 

202 


The  Drama 

lar  assemblies.  There  the  couple  set  up  a  dancing 
platform,  and  Okuni  gave  the  old  sacred  mirror 
dance  for  the  amusement  of  the  crowd.  There  is 
nothing  to  show  whether  she  did  or  did  not  add  other 
dances.  She  may  possibly  have  appeared  in  some  of 
the  classic  mimes,  or  in  the  part  of  the  princess  Joruri, 
Yoshitsune's  mistress,  whose  romantic  adventures  had 
already  been  made  the  subject  of  a  tragedy.  Later, 
at  Yedo,  we  find  the  pair  proprietors  of  a  regular 
theatre,  and  Okuni's  swashbuckler  husband  become 
famous  as  an  actor  in  the  romantic  drama,  then  first 
emancipated  from  Buddhist  and  classic  conventions. 
Such,  according  to  tradition,  was  the  origin  of  the 
modern  Japanese  stage. 

The  species  of  tragedy  to  which  Joruri  has  given 
her  name — "  The  Pure  Blue  Glaze  "  * — is  a  connect- 
ing link  between  the  mime  and  the  modern  drama. 
Like  the  No,  the  Joruri  requires  the  services  of  a 
chorus  which  chants  the  story  while  the  actors, 
masked  and  dressed  in  rich  brocades,  fall  into  pict- 
uresque attitudes  suggested  by  the  incidents  of  the 
narrative.  We  have  here  but  a  modification  of  the 
primitive  religious  dance  with  its  accompanying 
chant.  But  the  later  drama,  in  which  dialogue  com- 
pletely takes  the  place  of  narrative,  arose,  most  likely, 

*In  allusion   to  the  rare  and   precious  old  blue  porcelain  of 
China. 

203 


Sunrise  Stories 

about  the  beginning  of  the  Tokugawa  period,  out  of 
the  farces  which  served  as  interludes  in  the  classical 
No  performance. 

A  Japanese  play  is  the  most  plastic,  the  least  sta- 
ble, literary  product  imaginable,  if,  indeed,  it  can  be, 
strictly  speaking,  called  literature  at  all.  For  only 
the  most  important  speeches  are  committed  to  writ- 
ing, and  actors  like  the  famous  Danjuro  make  more 
free  with  their  text  than  ever  did  Garrick  or  Mac- 
ready  with  that  of  Shakespeare.  If  there  is  a  book 
of  the  play,  it  is  a  mere  summary  of  the  leading  in- 
cidents. The  subjects  are  usually  taken  from  the 
traditions  of  the  civil  wars,  and  the  plays  themselves 
might  be  called  acted  histories.  One  set  of  charac- 
ters succeeds  another,  and,  as  in  the  example  to  be 
given,  there  may  be  on  the  stage  in  the  last  act  not  a 
single  person  who  figured  in  the  first.  The  plot 
branches  out  in  all  directions,  and  what  is  to-day  a 
minor  episode,  may  to-morrow  become  the  leading 
incident.  There  would,  doubtless,  be  as  many  ver- 
sions as  companies  but  for  the  fact  that  a  play  is  a 
family  possession,  transmitted  from  father  to  son  like 
a  house  or  an  estate ;  but  this  hardly  lessens  the 
number  of  changes  to  which  it  is  subjected,  for  the 
owners  are  constantly  revising  and  adapting  it  to  new 
conditions.  In  short,  the  play  as  given  is  commonly 
the  creation  of  the  company  which  produces  it,  and 
204 


The  Drama 

which  has  selected  from  the  mass  of  dramatic  material 
the  parts  best  suited  to  the  capacity  of  its  members. 
This  work  of  selection  is  generally  well  done  from  a 
purely  theatrical  point  of  view ;  there  is  never  any 
lack  of  action,  and  the  stage  setting  is  often  superb. 
The  impression  produced  on  the  foreign  spectator  if 
he  sits  out  an  entire  performance,  which  frequently 
takes  a  whole  day,  is  that  he  has  been  witnessing 
parts  of  several  melodramas,  pantomimes,  and  specta- 
cles arbitrarily  combined  into  some  strange  imperfect 
unity.  But  there  is  usually  a  leading  idea  or  senti- 
ment which  dominates  the  piece  from  first  to  last, 
and  the  effect  is  artistically  worked  up  from  possibly 
tame  beginnings  to  an  overpowering  climax. 

The  theatre  is  a  large,  rectangular  wooden  building. 
In  that  part  of  the  auditory  that  we  call  the  pit, 
divided  by  low  partitions  into  family  stalls,  the  spec- 
tators sit  on  cushions  and,  between  the  acts,  smoke, 
take  tea,  and  entertain  their  friends.  One  or  more 
galleries  run  about  three  sides  of  the  house.  The 
stage,  which  occupies  the  fourth,  is  but  little  elevated, 
and  is  contrived  to  revolve,  so  that  while  one  scene  is 
on  that  which  is  to  follow  is  being  set,  and  there  are 
no  waits.  Two  long  platforms  adjoin  the  stage,  right 
and  left,  suggesting  the  parodoi  of  the  Greek  theatre 
by  the  use  to  which  they  are  put ;  for,  at  times,  it  is 
by  them  that  the  actors  reach  the  stage. 
205 


Sunrise  Stories 

Let  us  suppose  that  we  have  arrived  early  and  have 
taken  seats  in  one  of  the  shallow  boxes.  The  play  is 
to  be  "  The  House  of  the  Blossoming  Plum  Trees  " — 
a  title  which  leaves  everything  to  the  imagination. 
The  actor  who  reads  the  prologue,  appearing  sud- 
denly from  under  the  striped  curtain,  instead  of  en- 
lightening us,  makes  a  quantity  of  comical  blunders, 
and  leaves  us  as  much  in  the  dark  as  ever.  As  he 
disappears,  the  curtain  is  drawn  aside  and  reveals  the 
stage,  crowded  with  people  dressed  in  antique  cos- 
tume. The  time  is  surmised  to  be  that  of  the  Ashi- 
kaga  shoguns.  A  tournament  is  in  progress,  and  two 
of  the  retainers  of  my  lord,  Asama,  are  engaged  in  a 
fencing-bout,  which  is  to  be  the  final  contest  of  the 
day.  They  wax  warm,  foul  blows  are  dealt,  and  they 
have  to  be  separated.  Yakuro,  who  was  the  first  to 
break  the  rules,  insolently  gives  himself  the  airs  of  a 
victor.  He  is  reproved  by  his  lordship,  who  intimates 
that,  had  the  fight  been  allowed  to  proceed,  the  prize 
would  have  fallen  to  his  opponent,  Hanagaki ;  and 
Yakuro  retires  grumbling,  and  vowing  to  be  revenged 
for  the  slight  put  upon  him. 

The  crowd  departs ;  the  stage  revolves ;  it  is  now 
night  in  the  rice-fields  near  a  small  Shinto  temple. 
The  theatre  has  been  darkened,  and  in  the  obscurity 
we  dimly  see,  staggering  along  the  narrow  pathway, 
a  wounded  man,  vainly  endeavoring  to  stanch  the 
206 


The  Drama 

blood  that  flows  from  a  gash  in  his  side.  His  assail- 
ant follows  and  renews  his  attack.  A  flash  of  light- 
ning enables  the  combatants  to  recognize  one  an- 
other. The  wounded  man  is  Issai,  Master  of  the 
Ceremonies  to  Asama;  the  assassin  is  a  former  re- 
tainer of  the  daimio,  Hoshikage,  who,  having  been 
dismissed  for  some  fault,  has  become  a  ronin,  and  has 
taken  to  the  highway  for  a  means  of  subsistence. 
The  old  man  falls  under  repeated  blows  from  the 
ruffian,  who  takes  his  purse  and  decamps.  A  light 
trembles  in  the  distance  in  the  direction  opposite  to 
that  taken  by  the  robber.  It  is  Issai 's  two  daughters 
and  servant  who,  coming  to  meet  him,  stumble  over 
his  body  in  time  to  receive  his  dying  injunction  to 
pursue  the  assassin  and  exact  vengeance  for  the  murder. 
Again  the  stage  revolves ;  it  is  once  more  day,  on 
the  banks  of  a  little  river.  There  is  again  a  great 
throng  of  people — samurai,  husbandmen,  artisans, 
peddlers — gathered  to  witness  the  distribution  of  the 
prizes  won  by  the  victors  in  the  tournament.  On 
the  edge  of  the  crowd  some  ruffians  turn  to  annoy  a 
poorly  dressed  girl ;  and  the  daimio  sends  two  of  his 
men,  Yakuro  and  another,  to  her  assistance.  The 
crowd  falls  back.  Hototogisu  (The  Cuckoo)  is  led 
forward  between  the  two  samurai,  and  from  the  long 
set  speech  which  she  delivers  we  learn  her  history 
and  guess  that  she  is  to  be  the  heroine  of  the  play. 
207 


Sunrise  Stories 

When,  once  or  twice  in  a  lifetime,  we  hear,  at 
midnight,  the  song  of  the  hototogisu,  sounding  from 
the  darkest  recesses  of  the  wood,  we  know  that  it  is 
a  message  from  beyond  the  grave ;  for  the  bird  has 
its  home  in  the  trackless  mountains  that  divide  this 
world  from  the  next,  and  never  leaves  them  but  on 
some  ghostly  errand.  Such,  as  the  heroine  describes 
it,  has  been  her  life,  as  obscure  and  lonely,  hiding  in 
the  woods  by  day,  venturing  at  dusk  into  the  vil- 
lages, and  wandering  from  place  to  place  by  night, 
led  by  a  vague  hope,  which  springs  afresh  after  every 
new  disappointment,  to  seek  the  kinsfolk  from  whom 
she  has  been  separated  when  a  child. 

While  she  speaks,  giving  a  long  account  of  her 
wanderings,  the  daimio  and  his  suite  disappear ;  and 
Yakuro,  who  has  listened  attentively,  and  who  ap- 
pears to  be  revolving  in  his  mind  some  elaborate 
plot,  leads  her  after  to  the  castle. 

The  first  act  is  now  over,  and  three  distinct  mo- 
tives are  apparent  which  we  naturally  expect  to  see 
developed  in  the  following  scenes — Yakuro's  resent- 
ment, the  vengeance  vowed  by  the  daughters  of 
Issai,  and  the  quest  undertaken  by  Hototogisu. 
But  the  second  act,  as  it  proceeds,  does  not  seem  to 
advance  any  one  of  these  motives. 

It  opens  with  a  scene  on  Mount  Iwata.  It  is 
winter,  and  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow.  Sev- 
208 


The  Drama 

eral  men  appear,  dressed  like  hunters,  carrying  be- 
tween them  a  curiously  shaped  box.  They  set  it 
down  to  rest,  and  fall  to  chatting  and  laughing  about 
its  contents  and  the  use  to  which  Magohei,  their 
leader,  intends  to  put  them.  The  coffer,  which  they 
have  stolen  from  the  shrine  of  the  mountain  god, 
holds  the  dress  and  mask  used  by  the  priest  when  he 
impersonates  the  divinity.*  It  is  Magohei 's  plan  to 
array  himself  in  these  and,  entering  Issai's  house, 
frighten  the  servants,  while  his  band,  of  whom  the 
murderer,  Hoshikage,  is  one,  make  off  with  the  two 
young  girls,  Oju  and  Wasuragi. 

One  of  the  robbers  is  posted  to  intercept  any 
chance  traveller,  the  others  take  up  their  burden  and 
depart.  Unluckily  for  the  worthy  left  on  guard,  a 
young  samurai  approaches,  with  whom  he  picks  a 
quarrel,  but  who  proves  an  expert  swordsman,  and 
pushes  his  adversary,  step  by  step,  to  the  brink  of  the 
precipice.  At  last  a  false  move  on  his  part  and  he 
is  over. 

The  stage  revolves.  Yukieda,  the  victor  in  the 
last  scene,  arrives  at  the  shrine  of  the  mountain  god 
farther  down  the  slope.  The  body  of  the  robber, 
fallen  from  the  cliff,  lies  in  his  path.  While  he  is 

*  Shinto  has  no  idols,  but  its  gods  are  represented  in  religious 
dances  by  their  priests — the  oldest  form,  probably,  of  religious 
ceremonial. 

209 


Sunrise  Stories 

engaged  in  pushing  it  aside,  Wasuragi,  the  younger 
of  Issai's  daughters,  arrives  to  beseech  the  god  to  aid 
her  in  discovering  her  father's  murderer.  As  she 
prays,  the  door  of  the  shrine  is  suddenly  flung  open 
and  Hoshikage  and  Magohei,  who  have  been  hiding 
there,  rush  upon  her  escort.  Yukieda  comes  to  the 
rescue  and  puts  the  robbers  to  flight;  but  Wasuragi, 
alarmed  for  his  safety  and  forgetting  her  vow  of  ven- 
geance, detains  him,  and  they  are  permitted  to  es- 
cape. Another  disaster  impends  over  the  house  of 
Issai,  and  now  we  begin  to  see  the  true  drift  of  the 
play,  the  real  subject  of  which  is  the  misfortunes  of 
the  fated  family. 

The  third  act  is  an  example  of  those  contrasts  be- 
tween the  action  and  the  scene  in  which  Japanese 
playwrights  are  unsurpassed.  It  is  now  April ;  we 
are  in  the  gardens  of  the  daimio's  palace;  plum 
and  cherry  trees  are  in  full  bloom,  and  under  their 
masses  of  pink  and  white  blossoms  the  young  wife  of 
Asama  and  her  mother,  Yuri-no-  Kata,  confide  to  one 
another  their  jealousy  and  hatred  of  the  new  favorite, 
Hototogisu,  who  has  stolen  the  daimio's  affections. 
Yakuro  appears,  and  the  ladies  pretend  that  they  have 
no  other  concern  than  to  admire  the  flowers.  But 
Yakuro  skilfully  leads  the  conversation  back  to  the 
old  channel  and  expresses  the  most  profound  indigna- 
tion at  his  lord's  conduct  in  transferring  his  atten- 


The  Drama 

tions  from  their  legitimate  object  to  a  mere  strolling 
singer  of  unknown  extraction.  For  a  remedy,  he  de- 
clares he  can  see  none  but  to  put  the  adventuress  out 
of  the  way  by  poison.  The  two  women  eagerly  seize 
on  the  suggestion.  Asama  is  away  in  Kioto ;  the 
work  must  be  accomplished  before  his  return.  The 
prudent  Yakuro  has  already  provided  the  means  and 
leads  forward  a  physician  who  has  brought  the  poison 
with  him.  The  ladies  examine  the  phial  narrowly 
and  question  him  minutely  about  its  effects.  Satis- 
fied with  his  answers,  they  reward  and  dismiss  him. 
But  Yakuro  whispers  that  he  cannot  be  depended  on 
to  keep  the  secret,  and  Yuri-no-Kata  calls  him  back. 
Pretending  that  a  service  so  important  cannot  be  paid 
for  with  money  only,  she  proposes  to  raise  him  to 
the  rank  of  a  samurai,  and  borrows  Yakuro's  sword 
for  the  purpose.  As  the  doomed  man,  taking  hold  of 
the  scabbard,  bows  profoundly  in  acknowledgment 
of  the  honor,  she  suddenly  unsheaths  the  weapon  and 
strikes  his  head  from  his  shoulders. 

The  stage  revolving  shows  now  a  yet  more  exquis- 
ite garden  scene.  In  the  background  is  the  pavilion 
occupied  by  Hototogisu.  In  front  a  rivulet  winds 
through  the  grounds,  crossed  by  a  rustic  bridge,  and 
pours  over  a  ledge  of  rocks  into  a  ravine.  The  favor- 
ite is  suffering  from  the  effects  of  the  poison.  Night 
falls ;  she  dismisses  her  servants,  who  withdraw  re- 

211 


Sunrise  Stories 

luctantly.  A  bluish  flame  rises  from  the  floor  of  the 
pavilion,  dies  away,  and  a  ghostly  something  hovers 
in  its  place.  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  slain  physician, 
who  appears  to  warn  her  and  to  tell  her  of  an  anti- 
dote for  the  poison.  The  phantom  disappears.  Hoto- 
togisu  tries  the  remedy  and,  delighted  with  the  re- 
sult, prepares  for  sleep,  shutting  to  the  sliding  screens 
of  the  pavilion. 

In  the  meantime,  from  opposite  sides  of  the  gar- 
den two  furies  armed  with  naked  swords  advance 
stealthily  from  bush  to  bush.  They  spring  upon  the 
veranda,  burst  the  slight  fastenings  of  the  paper  walls, 
and,  rushing  upon  the  astonished  girl,  cut  her  down 
like  a  reed.  Yuri-no-Kata  enters  from  the  rear.  She 
had  tired  of  waiting  for  the  poison  to  take  effect,  and 
considering  that  steel  is  quicker  and  surer  had  sent 
the  two  viragos  upon  this  errand.  She  congratulates 
them  upon  their  success,  and  calmly  seats  herself  on 
the  mat  beside  her  victim.  Torches  now  light  up 
the  house,  which  is  visible  to  the  audience  through  the 
broken  screens.  The  wounded  woman  revives  and 
charges  Yuri-no-Kata  with  the  crime,  who  coldly 
acknowledges  her  share  in  it,  orders  tea  and  tobacco 
to  be  brought,  and,  sipping  and  smoking,  looks  on 
while  the  servants  accomplish  their  task. 

They  are  bunglers ;  Hototogisu  only  faints  from 
loss  of  blood  ;  but  thinking  her  dead  they  prepare  to 
212 


The  Drama 

withdraw.  Regaining  a  little  strength,  she  crawls 
painfully  from  the  pavilion  and  has  reached  the  mid- 
dle of  the  garden  before  one  of  them,  turning,  discov- 
ers her.  Yuri-no-Kata  runs  forward,  seizes  her  by 
the  hair,  and  dragging  her  across  the  bridge,  gives  the 
coup  de grace  ;  after  which  the  body  is  thrown  into  the 
ravine.  The  two  young  servants  of  the  favorite, 
who  have  come  upon  the  scene,  and  have  watched 
the  murder  trembling,  are  treated  likewise ;  and  the 
three  beldames  again  make  ready  to  depart. 

But,  now  one  of  the  castle  watch  approaches,  mak- 
ing his  rounds.  He  slips  in  the  blood,  examines  the 
traces  of  the  murder,  follows  them  to  the  ravine,  and, 
holding  out  his  lantern  at  arm's  length,  discovers  the 
bodies.  He  returns  toward  the  pavilion.  Yuri-no- 
Kata,  seeing  no  way  of  escape,  and  satisfied  with  hav- 
ing attained  her  purpose,  pierces  her  side  with  the 
sword  with  which  she  had  despatched  her  victim. 

The  fourth  act  passes  at  a  tea-house  in  the  environs 
of  Kioto.  Asama  is  making  a  visit,  incognito,  to  one 
of  the  inmates.  Hoshikage,  who  has  become  the  lead- 
er of  a  band  of  thieves  in  the  metropolis,  rudely  jos- 
tles him  and  is  pushed  aside.  He  demands  the  name 
of  the  daimio,  who  refuses  to  gratify  him.  Three 
or  four  other  thieves  spring  to  Hoshikage' s  assistance. 
Swords  are  drawn,  but  the  daimio  disdains  to  un- 
sheath  his  weapon.  With  a  few  smart  blows  of  his 
213 


Sunrise  Stories 

fan  he  puts  the  robbers  to  rout,  and  further  to  show 
his  contempt  for  such  cowardly  assailants,  he  fans  the 
air,  tainted  by  their  presence,  away  from  him.  The 
loyal  Hanagaki  and  his  servant  come  up.  They  cry 
out  against  the  daimio's  folly  in  thus  going  about  un- 
attended, and  try  to  dissuade  him  from  paying  the  in- 
tended visit,  but  in  vain.  The  party  enters  the  tea- 
house and  reappears  a  moment  after  at  the  end  of  one 
of  the  long  passages  already  described  that  run  along 
the  sides  of  the  theatre  and  connect  it  with  the 
stage.  At  the  same  time  there  appears  on  the  other 
side  the  beautiful  Oju,  magnificently  dressed,  and  led 
along  by  a  servant,  on  whose  shoulders  she  leans. 
Elaborate  compliments  fly  back  and  forth  from  one 
balcony  to  the  other  over  the  heads  of  the  spectators. 
Meanwhile  the  scene  is  changed  and  discloses  the  gar- 
den of  the  tea-house,  a  pavilion  lit  by  many-colored 
lanterns  at  the  end.  A  supper  is  laid  there.  The  two 
parties  proceed  to  the  pavilion,  bow  ceremoniously 
to  one  another,  and  take  their  places,  the  principals 
within,  the  attendants  at  a  respectful  distance  outside 
on  the  veranda.  Everything  proceeds  according  to 
the  strictest  etiquette.  The  supper  is  cleared  away, 
and  Oju  takes  a  koto  and  begins  to  play. 

At  this  moment,  in  the  darkest  corner  of  the  gar- 
den, a  little  flame  shoots  up,  vanishes,  and  Hototo- 
gisu  appears  in  its  place.     The  face  only  is  plainly 
214 


The  Drama 

visible,  the  black  hair  floating  about  it  is  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  the  background.  For  an  instant 
it  holds  a  folded  letter  between  its  lips ;  but  the  letter 
is  dropped  among  the  bushes,  and  the  apparition 
plays  on  the  short  flute  used  by  wandering  musicians 
an  accompaniment  to  Oju's  music.  She  is  heard  in 
the  pavilion,  but  not  seen.  Oju  ceases  playing  in 
order  to  listen. 

The  apparition  now  tries  another  air,  one  with 
which  Asama  is  familiar.  He  comes  forward  to  the 
veranda  and  recognizes  the  vision,  which  he  imagines 
to  be  the  living  Hototogisu.  Amazed,  he  asks  what 
can  be  the  purpose  of  her  visit.  "  To  see  you,"  she 
returns,  "  and  also  my  elder  sister.  In  the  other 
world  I  have  found  the  parents  I  was  so  long  seek- 
ing; Issai  was  my  father."  Oju,  it  now  appears, 
had  been  carried  off  by  the  brigands  and  sold  to  the 
proprietor  of  the  tea-house.  To  Asama  the  spirit 
complains  of  the  cruel  treatment  she  had  received 
and  vanishes ;  he  signs  to  the  attendants  to  follow ; 
they  discover  only  the  letter  in  the  grass,  which  con- 
tains a  circumstantial  account  of  the  murder,  and 
urges  upon  her  sister  the  duty  of  taking  vengeance 
upon  Hoshikage,  the  first  cause  of  all  their  misfort- 
unes. 

The  opening  scene  of  the  next  act  is  again  at  the 
tea-house,  but  seven  years  are  supposed  to  have  passed 
215 


Sunrise  Stories 

away.  Oju  is  now  well  known  in  Kioto  to  be 
Asama's  favorite.  Two  new  characters  appear,  Go- 
rojo, an  old-time  retainer  of  the  daimio,  now  a  ronin, 
and  his  wife.  Gorojo  is  sickly,  and  in  debt.  He 
has  many  dependants,  who  prey  upon  the  little  sub- 
stance that  remains  to  him.  His  wife  no  longer  loves 
him.  She  wishes  to  join  Hoshikage,  who  appears  with 
a  bag  of  money  and  offers  to  buy  her  from  her  hus- 
band ;  but  Gorojo  is  not  yet  reduced  to  that  point 
and  rejects  the  proffered  purse  with  indignation. 
His  wife  laughs  at  him  for  a  fool,  and  tells  him  that 
she  means  to  leave  him  in  any  case.  Hoshikage  de- 
parts, clinking  his  money,  and  Gorojo  follows  threat- 
ening him. 

The  woman  remains,  and  to  her  now  comes  Oju, 
who  has  overheard  the  altercation,  and  who  sees  an 
opportunity  to  bring  the  old  robber  to  an  accounting 
at  last.  She  persuades  the  creature,  who  has  a  sort  of 
fondness  for  her,  to  tell  her  of  Hoshikage's  hiding- 
place,  to  exchange  dresses  with  her,  and  to  remain 
for  the  night  at  the  tea-house. 

The  scene  changes  to  the  street.  An  oil-lamp  is 
burning  at  the  corner,  and  near  by  is  the  scaffold  of 
a  fire  lookout,  with  shelves  for  buckets.  Gorojo  en- 
ters, climbs  up  and  extinguishes  the  light,  then  de- 
scends again  and  hides  behind  the  water- buckets.  If 
his  wife  and  Hoshikage  are  to  meet,  one  or  the  other 
216 


The  Drama 

must  pass  this  place,  and  he  has  determined  to  slay 
whichever  is  the  first  to  arrive.  Hark !  He  hears 
footsteps.  It  is  Oju,  who  comes  attired  in  his  wife's 
kimono.  With  a  single  blow  of  his  sabre  he  takes  off 
her  head,  then  rips  the  loose,  hanging  sleeve  from 
her  dress,  wraps  the  head  in  it,  slings  it  over  his 
shoulder  and  departs.  Turning  the  corner  he  stum- 
bles against  Hoshikage ;  but  his  desire  for  blood  is 
sated  ;  the  two  ronin  glare  at  one  another,  and  each 
goes  his  way. 

The  last  act  is  laid  at  Gorojo's  house  in  the  least 
reputable  quarter  of  old  Kioto.  The  screens  forming 
the  front  of  the  house  have  been  removed  so  that  the 
interior  is  visible ;  and  the  scene  also  includes  part  of 
the  street  without.  It  is  noon ;  Gorojo's  idle  and 
hungry  hangers-on  are  gathered  discussing  the  news 
of  the  murder.  The  body  has  been  found,  and, 
though  the  head  is  missing,  it  has  been  identified  as 
that  of  the  famous  beauty,  the  favorite  of  the  daimio, 
Asama.  Gorojo  enters,  stretching  his  limbs  and 
yawning.  He  listens  to  the  gossip  at  first  with  in- 
difference— there  is  nothing  to  connect  him  with  the 
murder — then,  as  Oju's  name  is  mentioned,  with  sur- 
prise, which  he  endeavors  to  conceal.  Every  inci- 
dent connected  with  the  murder  is  recounted ;  Oju 
has  disappeared ;  her  servants  have  identified  the 
body  by  certain  marks  upon  it;  the  evidence  is  con- 
217 


Sunrise  Stories 

elusive  that  she  is  the  victim.  But  Gorojo  refuses  to 
be  convinced.  He  says  not  a  word,  but  his  attitude 
shows  that  he  weighs  each  statement  as  with  loaded 
scales,  and  regards  the  proof  which  satisfies  the  others 
as  contemptible.  The  police  have  blundered,  that 
is  all.  Still,  he  dismisses  his  people  in  order  to  make 
doubly  sure  by  examining  the  head,  which  he  has 
hidden  away. 

But  his  blind  mother  enters,  and  he  turns  back 
from  the  closet  which  he  was  about  to  open.  The 
old  woman  offers  up  a  prayer  for  his  happiness  and 
goes  out.  It  makes  him  melancholy  to  be  prayed 
for,  and  he  is  slow  about  returning  to  the  closet. 
He  goes  to  the  door  and  closes  it,  and  changes  the 
position  of  one  small  article  after  another.  Pshaw  ! 
What  is  this  feeling  that  is  creeping  over  him  ?  He 
plucks  up  nerve,  opens  the  door  of  the  recess  and 
takes  out  the  packet.  Of  course !  It  is  just  as  he 
thought !  This  is  the  sleeve  of  his  wife's  kimono. 
Why  !  how  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  What  idiots 
those  people  were  who  thought  he  had  slain  Oju  in- 
stead. He  had  a  right  to  kill  his  wife,  she  was  un- 
faithful ;  but  to  kill  the  favorite  of  his  lord — that 
would  be  a  crime  little  short  of  treason.  True,  he 
had  left  Asama's  employ  ;  he  was  a  ronin.  But  he 
was  still  a  member  of  the  clan,  and  owed  fealty  to  its 
head.  No,  no  !  If  such  a  deed  had  been  done  by 
218 


The  Drama 

him,  even  in  mistake —  He  removes  the  wrappings 
and  recoils,  stupefied  ;  returns  once,  twice,  incredu- 
lous ;  it  is  hard  for  him  to  believe,  even  now,  that 
the  error  has  really  been  his,  and  that  the  police 
were  not  at  fault. 

But  at  last  no  doubt  remains ;  nor  does  he  for  a 
moment  hesitate  as  to  what  he  must  do.  He  must 
make  reparation  and  die  the  honorable  death.  He 
sits  down  to  write  his  last  testament. 

As  he  does  so  his  wife  enters  brimming  over  with 
tears  and  with  gossip  about  the  dead  Oju.  GorojS 
rises  and  flings  her  out  of  the  house.  The  blind 
mother  returns,  anxious,  having  heard  the  noise  of 
the  scuffle,  and  she  also  is  summarily  put  into  the 
street.  Then  GorojO  closes  the  screens  and  piles 
chests  and  boxes  against  them  that  he  may  not  again 
be  disturbed.  He  finishes  writing,  takes  a  small 
table  from  the  recess,  puts  Oju's  head  upon  it,  lights 
candles  and  places  vases  of  flowers  beside  it.  He 
draws  his  sword  and  feels  its  edge  and  point.  Then, 
seating  himself  opposite  the  sort  of  altar  that  he  has 
improvised,  he  thrusts  the  point  of  the  sword  into  his 
bowels. 

Meanwhile  the  faithless  wife  poignards  herself  in  the 

street.      Her  body   lies   in   the   gutter.     The  blind 

mother,  distracted,  understanding   nothing  but  that 

her  son  is  in  trouble,  tries  to  force  her  way  into  the 

219 


Sunrise  Stories 

house.  The  barricade  at  last  yields,  but  Gor5jO  has 
already  dealt  himself  the  finishing  stroke.  He  is  not 
yet  dead  when  some  of  his  cronies  return  with  further 
news  to  impart,  and  blurt  it  out  while  stupidly  trying 
to  seize  the  meaning  of  the  scene  before  them.  In 
their  search  for  the  murderer  of  Oju  the  authorities 
have  laid  hands  on  Hoshikage,  whom  they  have  long 
sought  to  apprehend  for  his  numerous  crimes.  There 
is  no  question  that  he  will  be  condemned  to  death. 
Gorojo  turns  on  his  side.  ' '  You  have  done  well  to 
bring  the  good  news,"  he  says.  "  It  is  an  acceptable 
farewell  gift." 


220 


XVIII 
THE  FORTY-SEVEN   FREE   LANCES 

THAT  private  vengeance  is  not  favored  by  heaven 
is  evidently  the  moral  which  the  exemplary  author  of 
"  The  House  of  the  Blossoming  Plum  Trees  "  desired 
to  enforce.  But  this  was  far  from  being  a  universal 
sentiment  in  old  Japan ;  and  the  most  celebrated  of  the 
popular  romances  of  the  Tokugavva  period  has  for  its 
aim  the  glorification  of  that  excessive  loyalty  to  family 
and  chief  which  too  often  gave  rise  to  savage  blood - 
feuds.  "  The  Treasury  of  Loyalty  "  (Chiushin-gura) 
relates  how  Yenya  Takasada,  a  lord  of  Hakushiu, 
having  been  compelled  to  commit  hara-kiri,  and  his 
fief  having  been  confiscated  as  a  punishment  for  at- 
tempting the  life  of  an  insulting  court  official,  the  karo 
(chief  councillor)  of  the  clan  and  a  number  of  retain- 
ers took  an  oath  to  slay  the  enemy  of  their  lord,  whose 
insults  had  brought  this  fate  upon  them,  and  suc- 
ceeded, in  spite  of  the  latter's  watchfulness  and  their 
own  weak  and  impoverished  condition. 

Yenya,  with  the  lord  of  Wakasa,  a  baron  of  lesser 
rank,  and  Moronao,  the  court  officer  referred  to,  had 


Sunrise  Stories 

been  appointed  by  the  shogun,  Ashikaga  Takauji,  to 
attend  upon  his  brother,  on  the  occasion  of  the  latter 's 
visit  to  inaugurate  a  new  shrine  to  the  war -god  at 
Tsurugaoka.  Moronao  was  to  instruct  the  two  younger 
men,  his  coadjutors,  in  the  etiquette  proper  to  the  oc- 
casion, but  confined  his  instructions  to  Wakasa,  whose 
councillor,  Honzo,  had  secretly  taken  the  precaution 
of  bribing  him.  Yenya,  on  the  contrary,  he  treated 
with  contempt,  and  so  enraged  by  his  insults  that  he 
was  with  difficulty  prevented  by  Honzo  from  slaying 
his  tormentor.  But  merely  to  draw  sword  within 
the  precincts  of  the  palace  was  a  capital  offence,  and 
though  Moronao  escaped  with  a  slight  wound,  Yenya 
was  condemned  to  disembowel  himself,  and  his  castle 
and  estates  were  seized  by  the  shogun.  His  retain- 
ers were  compelled  to  seek  other  service  or  become 
ronin. 

After  Yenya  had  died  by  his  own  hand  in  the 
presence  of  his  family  and  fighting  men,  the  kar<5 
Kuranosuk6  called  the  latter  together  in  the  great  hall 
of  the  castle  and  divided  equally  among  them  the 
contents  of  the  treasury.  There  were  loud  cries  on 
the  part  of  some  of  the  younger  men  for  resistance  to 
the  decree  of  expulsion,  while  others,  knowing  how 
futile  such  resistance  must  be,  desperately  counselled 
self-despatch.  Meanwhile,  those  who  preferred  life 
to  either  course  quietly  slunk  away,  and  one  KudayQ 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

(of  whom  more  hereafter),  not  content  to  follow  their 
example,  bitterly  reviled  Kuranosuk6  for  his  equal 
division  of  the  funds,  claiming  that  he  should  have 
received  a  share  proportioned  to  his  salary  as  one  of 
the  council.  Forty-seven  of  the  samurai  remained ; 
and  Kuranosuke,  seeing  that  the  good  grain  had  been 
winnowed  from  the  chaff,  made  known  his  real  plan, 
which  was  that  they  should  deliver  up  the  castle 
quietly  to  the  shogun's  commissioners,  but  should 
undergo  no  new  obligations  until  such  time  as  they 
might  find  an  opportunity  to  compass  the  death  of 
Moronao  in  return  for  that  of  their  lord.  To  this  all 
assented  and  signed  the  agreement  that  he  had  pre- 
pared with  their  blood.  They  then  separated,  Ku- 
ranosuke going  to  Yamashina,  a  village  near  Kioto, 
where  he  hired  a  small  cottage.  The  wife  of  Yenya, 
Kawoyo,  took  up  her  residence  in  the  capital. 

The  first  task  of  the  conspirators  was  to  set  Moro- 
nao's  fears  at  rest  and  remove  all  suspicion  of  their  de- 
sign. That  worthy,  they  learned,  had  shut  himself 
up  in  his  yashiki  and  had  doubled  the  number  of  his 
retainers,  rightly  judging  that  the  quiet  submission 
of  the  clan  was  proof  that  there  was  a  plot  on  foot 
against  his  life.  It  was  certain  that  he  would  employ 
spies  to  watch  them,  and  especially  the  karo,  Kura- 
nosuke. Wherefore,  after  the  manner  of  other  famous 
heroes  in  like  circumstances,  Kuranosuke  began  to 
223 


Sunrise  Stories 

lead  a  double  life,  squandering  his  money  recklessly, 
drinking  deep  and  often,  frequenting  the  Yoshiwara, 
quarrelling  with  his  wife  and  son  and  abusing  his  ser- 
vants— all  this  openly  and  with  the  most  scandalous 
disregard  of  public  opinion,  like  a  man  whose  princi- 
ples and  character  had  been  completely  unsettled  by 
misfortune ;  while,  when  no  one  was  looking,  he  re- 
mained a  model  husband  and  father,  a  careful  guar- 
dian of  the  funds  intrusted  to  him  by  Yenya's  wife, 
and  above  all  a  tireless  laborer  for  Moronao's  destruc- 
tion. 

The  anniversary  of  Yenya's  death  came  about  while 
each  party  was  thus  engaged  in  watching  the  other's 
movements.  Moronao  had  begun  to  find  a  life  of 
constant  care  and  suspicion  prey  upon  his  spirits  and 
was  disposed  to  believe,  if  he  only  dared,  in  the  re- 
ports that  reached  him  through  his  spies  of  Kurano- 
suk^'s  dissolute  habits.  But  Kudayu,  who  was  now 
in  his  service,  knew  too  well  the  character  of  his  old 
comrade  to  believe  in  such  a  complete  transformation. 
He  offered  to  accompany  a  retainer  of  Moronao,  one 
Bannai,  to  Yamashina  and  probe  the  matter  to  the 
bottom. 

At  Yamashina,  where  they  had  learned  Kuranosuk6 

resided,   the  precious  pair   discovered  that   the  old 

karo  really  spent  most  of  his  time  in  the  Yoshiwara, 

in  Kioto,  and  was  in  very  bad  repute  with  his  neigh- 

224 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

bors.  Making  their  way  to  the  tea-house  in  Gion 
Street  which  they  heard  was  frequented  by  Kurano- 
suke', they  found  the  latter,  tipsy  and  blindfolded, 
making  excellent  fun  for  a  lot  of  girls,  the  waitresses 
of  the  establishment,  who  were  having  with  him  a 
game  of  blind-man's  buff.  The  two  emissaries  of 
Moronao  were  obliged  to  put  up  with  a  room  on  the 
second  floor,  the  entire  ground  floor  of  the  inn  having 
been  taken  by  Kuranosuke  for  the  day. 

While  the  two  spies  sipped  their  sake  upstairs, 
three  of  the  ronin  approached,  with  a  fourth  man, 
one  Heiyemon,  who,  though  only  a  common  soldier, 
wished  to  be  allowed  to  enroll  himself  among  the 
conspirators.  Kuranosuke",  rushing  about  blindfold 
in  pursuit  of  the  girls,  stumbled  against  one  of  the 
men.  "  Caught  !  caught !  "  he  cried.  "  Bring  the 
sake  ;  she  must  pay  forfeit  by  drinking  a  good  cup 
of  it." 

"What  means  this  foolery,  Kuranosuke?"  asked 
the  new-comer,  rudely  disengaging  himself.  "  I  am 
Yazama  Jiutaro,  and  here  are  two  or  three  friends ; 
we  must  speak  with  you." 

"What  about?"  inquired  the  karo.  "  Namu ! 
girls,  the  game  is  ended." 

"  We  seek  to  know,"  said  Yazama,  after  the  girls 
had  withdrawn,  "  when  we  are  to  set  out  for  Kama- 
kura?" 

225 


Sunrise  Stories 

"  Kamakura  !  ' '  echoed  the  karo.  "  That  is  a  long 
way  off,  is  it  not  ?  Wait,  a  scrap  of  verse  occurs  to 
me ;  but,  now  I  remember,  it  is  about  Yedo.  Per- 
haps some  one  of  you  gentlemen  will  kindly  enlight- 
en me  as  to  what  on  earth  we  are  talking  about." 

The  exasperated  ronin  were  about  to  draw  upon 
their  chief  when  Heiyemon  interposed  to  prefer 
his  request, 

"  Fool  !  "  cried  the  kar5.  "  Of  what  use  should 
vengeance  be  to  you  or  me?  Do  you  not  know  that 
whether  the  attempt  failed  or  succeeded  our  deaths 
must  follow  ?  Then  why  be  at  the  pains  to  conspire  ? 
One  does  not  take  medicine  when  in  the  hands  of 
the  executioner." 

Heiyemon  continued  to  implore  his  permission  to 
join  the  band ;  but  as  the  karo  for  sole  answer 
stretched  himself  upon  the  mats  and  fell  asleep,  the 
samurai  withdrew,  cursing  their  old  chief. 

Hours  slipped  by.  It  was  near  dawn  when  the 
karo's  son,  Rikiya,  entered,  awoke  his  father  and 
handed  him  a  packet.  "  It  is  from  Lady  Kawoyo," 
he  said.  "  Moronao  is  about  to  leave  Kamakura  for 
his  country  seat.  There  it  will  be  more  difficult 
than  ever  for  us  to  reach  him.  We  must  strike 
quickly  or  it  will  be  too  late. ' ' 

"Go  back  to  Yamashina,"  said  the  karo,  "and, 
when  night  falls,  send  me  here  a  covered  litter." 
226 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

He  was  about  to  open  Lady  Kawoyo's  letter  when 
Kudayu,  who  had  not  spent  much  time  in  sleep,  en- 
tered the  room.  Kuranosuke  quickly  concealed  the 
packet  in  his  bosom. 

"Well  met,"  he  called.  "It  is  a  year,  I  think, 
since  we  parted,  and  we  have  each  acquired  some 
wrinkles.  A  good  occasion  this  to  smooth  them 
out." 

"What!  Sir  Kura,"  Kudayu  returned.  "Well, 
well !  It  does  not  answer  to  pick  holes  in  a  good 
doublet ;  but  this  is  a  strange  way  to  set  about  your 
enterprise  against  Moronao. ' ' 

"  Hard  words,"  said  Kura.  "  I  do  not  know  of 
what  you  speak. ' ' 

The  two  called  for  sake,  but  Kudayu,  who,  traitor 
as  he  was,  reverenced  in  his  way  his  lord's  memory, 
superstitiously  avoided  taking  any  solid  food  ;  and 
was  horror-stricken  to  see  the  karo  devour  the  fish 
that  was  set  before  him. 

"I  have  not  heard,"  said  he,  "that  Yenya  has 
been  changed  into  a  devil-fish ;  nor  for  that  matter, 
into  a  pullet,  which  is  better  eating.  I  will  go  order 
one." 

Bannai  entered  while  Kuranosuk6  was  seeing  about 

the  fowl,    and   the  two   spies  exchanged   notes  and 

agreed  that  Moronao  had  nothing  to  fear  from  such  a 

heartless  and  conscienceless  scoundrel.     Their  litter 

227 


Sunrise  Stories 

was  in  waiting.  The  two  rogues  each  politely  re- 
quested the  other  to  enter  first.  "  By  your  leave 
then,"  said  Kudayu,  and,  seized  by  a  sudden  in- 
spiration, he  passed  through  the  curtained  kago  and 
picking  up  a  large  stone  that  happened  to  be  at 
hand  he  deposited  it  in  the  place  that  he  should 
have  occupied,  then  quickly  disappeared  under  the 
flooring  of  the  veranda. 

"Go  your  way,"  he  whispered  to  Bannai.  "I 
am  not  yet  convinced  and  must  learn  in  some  way 
the  contents  of  the  letter  that  Rikiya  just  now  brought 
to  his  father." 

As  Kudayu  had  expected,  Kuranosuk6,  seeing  the 
kago  depart,  apparently  heavy  laden,  came  out  to  the 
light  to  read  Kawoyo's  letter.  It  was  a  long  epistle 
which,  as  the  karo  unrolled  it,  reached  the  planks, 
and  Kudayu  had  little  difficulty  in  drawing  part  of  it 
through  one  of  the  open  joints  of  the  floor.  He  read 
sufficient  to  confirm  his  suspicions.  But  he  might 
not  be  believed :  it  was  necessary  to  have  some  proof 
to  show  that  the  conspiracy  was  a  fact,  otherwise  he 
might  yet  lose  his  lucrative  occupation.  He  care- 
fully tore  away  the  portion  of  the  letter  that  had 
reached  his  hands. 

But  at  the  same  time,  on  the  balcony  above,  one 
of  Kuranosuke's  playmates  of  the  previous  evening, 
prompted  by  feminine  curiosity,  was  endeavoring  by 
228 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

the  means  of  her  metal  hand-mirror  to  get  at  the 
contents  of  the  letter  without  being  herself  observed. 
The  mirror  slipped  from  her  grasp,  and  Kuranosuke, 
looking  up,  recognized  her.  "  Karu,"  he  called, 
"  Karu,  I  have  taken  a  great  fancy  to  you.  Come 
down,  then,  and  leave  this  place  with  me.  See  !  I 
will  pay  your  score  and  set  you  free  from  service. ' ' 

The  girl,  though  puzzled  and  a  little  afraid,  was, 
on  the  whole,  well  pleased  with  the  offer,  and  did  as 
she  was  bid.  Kuranosuke,  rolling  up  the  scroll,  re- 
entered  the  tea-house  to  pay  his  reckoning.  But 
Kudayu  still  found  no  chance  for  escape ;  for  now 
Heiyemon,  who  was  Karu's  brother,  came  out  to  in- 
quire about  her  bargain  with  Kuranosuke.  Learning 
from  her  that  she  had  read  the  contents  of  the 
letter,  "  You  are  a  dead  woman,"  said  he.  "  And, 
worse,  my  chance  of  being  received  as  a  member  of 
the  band  is  lost  by  your  fault.  Why  do  you  suppose 
the  councillor  should  trouble  himself  about  you  ? 
He  means  to  kill  you  to  make  certain  of  your  si- 
lence." 

Karu  protested  that  she  was  willing  to  die  if  her 
living  in  any  way  endangered  the  success  of  the  plot. 
Upon  this  Kuranosuk^  returned,  having  discovered 
ihe  loss  of  part  of  the  scroll,  and  reassured  them, 
saying  that  he  had  only  intended  to  keep  Karu  out  of 
the  way  until  the  affair  was  over. 
229 


Sunrise  Stories 

"  But  there  is  a  traitor  here  who  will  not  get  off  so 
easily,"  he  added.  And,  with  Heiyemon's  aid,  he 
dragged  Kudayu  from  his  hiding-place.  The  un- 
fortunate spy  was  gagged  and  bound,  and,  to  avoid 
discovery,  was  taken  and  cast  into  the  river. 

Kawoyo's  letter,  that  had  caused  all  this  coil,  con- 
tained but  one  important  item  of  information  that 
had  not  been  confided  to  Rikiya  :  Moronao,  reckon- 
ing on  leaving  Kamakura,  had  dismissed  most  of  his 
hired  guards.  It  was  doubly  important,  therefore, 
to  strike  without  delay.  All  was  ready.  The  arms- 
merchant,  Gihei,  of  Sakai,  had  procured  armor, 
weapons,  and  uniforms,  and  had  two  fishing-junks  in 
readiness  to  take  the  conspirators  to  their  destination. 
One  thing  only  remained  with  which  they  were  not 
yet  provided — a  plan  of  their  enemy's  residence; 
and  that  Kuranosuk6  obtained  in  an  unexpected 
manner  before  the  day  had  ended. 

The  daughter  of  Honzo,  the  councillor  of  Wakasa, 
who  had  prevented  Yenya  from  slaying  Moronao, 
had  been  betrothed  to  Rikiya,  Kuranosuke's  son, 
but  owing  to  the  misfortunes  that  had  come  upon  the 
latter's  family,  the  affair  had  been  allowed  to  drop. 
Honzo  and  his  daughter,  however,  had  set  their 
hearts  upon  the  union ;  and  the  former,  knowing 
that  nothing  would  be  more  likely  to  lead  to  a  re- 
newal of  the  engagement,  had  been  at  great  pains  to 
230 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

obtain  from  the  architect  a  detailed  plan  of  Moronao's 
yashiki,  which  he  intended  to  offer  as  his  daughter's 
marriage  portion.  But  he  feared  he  would  be  ill- 
received  if  he  presented  himself  too  abruptly  ;  so  he 
had  his  wife  and  daughter  precede  him  to  Yamashina 
to  open  the  negotiations,  while  he  followed  disguised 
as  a  wandering  musician. 

In  Kuranosuke's  absence,  his  wife,  Ishi,  received 
the  travellers  with  becoming  friendliness  until  the 
subject  of  the  marriage  was  broached,  when  she  put 
on  a  cold  and  haughty  demeanor.  Though  her  hus- 
band and  son  were  now  ronin,  she  said  they  had  not 
dishonored  themselves  by  offering  bribes  to  Moronao, 
and  they  could  never  forgive  Honzo  for  having  saved 
that  monster's  life.  On  one  condition  only  would 
she  listen  to  their  request — that  they  bring  her  the 
head  of  their  father  and  husband. 

HonzO  in  his  mendicant's  garb  arrived  just  in  time 
to  overhear  this  outrageous  proposal.  He  had  an- 
ticipated a  refusal,  but  the  excess  of  hatred  mani- 
fested by  Ishi  made  him  furious.  Throwing  off  his 
disguise,  "  Here  is  my  head,"  he  cried  ;  "  take  it ! 
Your  precious  husband,  I  hear,  is  become  a  drunkard 
and  a  madman,  as  well  as  a  ronin  ;  and,  doubtless, 
the  son  follows  in  the  father's  footsteps.  My  head  is 
safe  enough  from  their  rusty  swords,  I'll  warrant." 

"You  shall  pay  for  your  insolence,"  cried  Ishi, 
231 


Sunrise  Stories 

also  beside  herself;  and  taking  a  long  spear  from  the 
rack,  she  let  drive  at  him  with  all  her  strength. 
Honzo  caught  the  weapon  by  the  shaft  and  wrested 
it  from  her.  Brushing  his  wife  and  daughter  aside, 
and  casting  the  spear  to  a  distance,  he  brought  Ishi 
to  the  ground  and  held  her  down.  At  this  moment 
Rikiya  and  Kuranosuke  arrived,  and  the  former,  pick- 
ing up  the  spear  and  heedless  of  his  father's  orders 
to  stay  his  hand,  ran  Honzo  through  the  body. 

Everybody  now  stood  horror-struck  at  the  bloody 
termination  of  the  affray;  while  the  dying  man, 
recollecting  too  late  the  purpose  for  which  he  had 
come,  explained  that  his  object  had  been  to  bring 
about  an  understanding  as  to  the  marriage,  had  not 
Ishi's  and  his  own  unguarded  temper  led  to  this  un- 
fortunate result.  "But  all  will  be  well  if  you  grant 
me  my  desire,"  he  concluded,  addressing  Kuranosuk6. 
"  You  will  now  surely  not  let  my  journey  have  been 
in  vain." 

The  karO,  for  an  answer,  pushed  back  the  screens 
that  hid  the  small  garden  at  the  rear  of  the  cottage 
where,  that  morning,  playing  the  mad-man,  he  had 
heaped  up  and  fashioned  two  tombs  of  snow.  The 
visitors  understood  him.  The  tombs  were  for  himself 
and  his  son,  whose  lives  would  be  at  an  end  before  the 
snow  could  melt.  "  You  see,"  said  Ishi,  "  that  if  I 
imposed  impossible  conditions  it  was  not  to  insult  or 
232 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

grieve  you.  Moronao  must  die,  and  my  son  and 
husband  must  therefore  perish.  Why  would  you 
speak  of  marriage  when  the  bride  must  so  soon  be 
widowed  ? ' ' 

"  Still,  let  my  wishes  be  fulfilled,"  urged  HonzO, 
feebly,  "  and  accept  from  me  the  bridal  gifts  that 
you  will  find  set  down  here  in  this  document." 

He  drew  the  architect's  scroll  from  his  bosom  and 
handed  it  to  Rikiya,  who  exclaimed,  in  astonishment : 
"  Why,  this  is  no  list,  but  itself  the  best  of  gifts  !  It 
is  the  plan  of  Moronao's  yashiki,  with  gate-house  and 
postern,  barracks  and  private  quarters,  everything, 
even  to  the  stores  and  outhouses,  set  down  in  their 
proper  places. ' ' 

"Thanks,  HonzO,"  said  Kuranosuke.  "You 
could  not  have  brought  a  better  peace-offering ;  for 
this  removes  the  final  difficulty  from  our  way." 

"Let  me  see  the  plan,"  gasped  HonzO;  "you 
must  know  how  to  use  it.  The  best  places  to  gain 
entrance  are  here,  and  here,  near  the  water-gate  and 
the  main  gate.  From  these  points  two  separate  par- 
ties will  have  each  a  clear  path  to  the  great  hall  and 
Moronao's  private  rooms.  And  now  let  the  desire 
of  my  heart  be  granted  and  the  marriage  proceed, 
though  it  be  but  for  a  day." 

"  So  let  it  be,"  said  Kuranosuke.  "  For  my  part, 
I  must  leave  at  once  for  Sakai,  to  arrange  with  the 
233 


Sunrise  Stories 

merchant,  Gihei,  who  is  to  furnish  our  arms.  But 
you,  Rikiya,  can  join  me  to-morrow.  I  will  make 
vise  of  Honzo's  disguise."  So  saying,  he  put  on  the 
cloak  and  deep-brimmed  hat,  and  picked  up  the  bam- 
boo flute  that  Honzo  had  thrown  aside. 

But  the  latter  was  now  at  the  point  of  death ;  his 
wife  and  daughter  were  prostrate  by  his  body ;  and 
Kuranosuke  delayed  yet  a  moment  to  put  up  a  prayer 
in  his  behalf  to  Buddha.  Soon  the  last  agony  was 
over ;  the  thread  of  life  was  broken  ;  and  while  the 
women  and  Rikiya  began  the  prayers  for  the  dead, 
Kuranosuke  set  out  upon  his  journey. 

Gihei,  who  was  to  furnish  arms  and  transportation 
for  the  ronin,  had  been  in  former  times  the  factor  for 
the  clan,  who  had  disposed  of  their  produce  and 
bought  and  forwarded  the  goods  of  which  they  stood 
in  need.  At  the  first  hint  of  the  conspiracy  he  had 
offered  his  services ;  and  his  only  regret  was  that, 
being  a  citizen,  he  could  not  take  a  personal  share  in 
the  enterprise.  The  matter  was  forever  in  his  mind, 
and  he  spent  many  an  hour  trying  to  think  of  some 
means  of  advancing  Kuranosuke's  designs ;  but  being 
a  dull-witted  fellow,  nothing  ever  occurred  to  him 
until  it  was  suggested  by  the  karo,  who  himself  de- 
signed the  "  bat's-wing  "  uniforms  that  were  to  en- 
able the  ronin  to  recognize  one  another  in  the  con- 
fusion of  the  attack,  selected  the  weapons,  and 
234 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

arranged  all  the  details.  The  only  stroke  of  policy 
that  commended  itself  to  him  was  to  send  his  wife, 
Sono,  out  of  the  way,  lest  some  news  of  the  ex- 
pedition might  leak  out  through  her,  or  any  harm 
befall  her  if  his  house  were  searched  by  the  author- 
ities. 

Gihei  lived  and  did  business  at  the  sign  of  the 
Stream  of  Heaven  (Ama-gawa)  in  Sakai,  the  seaport 
of  Kioto  ;  and  in  his  wife's  absence  had  for  company 
in  the  house  only  his  young  son  and  a  single  serving- 
man.  On  the  evening  before  the  sailing  of  the  ex- 
pedition he  was  aroused  about  midnight  by  a  loud 
knocking  at  his  door,  and,  opening  it,  half  a  dozen 
men  dressed  and  armed  like  members  of  the  city 
watch  rushed  in  upon  him.  Their  leader  placed  him 
under  arrest,  and  told  him  he  was  charged  with  com- 
plicity in  the  conspiracy  against  Moronao. 

"We  are  acting  on  authority,"  he  continued. 
"You  will  be  put  to  the  torture  if  you  do  not  answer 
our  questions  truly.  You  had  better  confess  at  once, 
and  tell  us  all  that  you  know  about  the  plot.  It  is  of 
no  use  your  denying  your  connection  with  it.  The 
contents  of  this  box,  which  we  have  seized,  will  suf- 
fice to  confound  you  if  you  do. ' ' 

The  box  Gihei  recognized  as  having  been  shipped 
by  him  that  day,  full  of  chain-mail  and  weapons,  on 
board  one  of  the  junks  that  were  to  convey  Kurano- 
=35 


Sunrise  Stories 

suke's  men  to  Kamakura.  "  All  is  lost,"  thought 
he ;  but  determined  that  no  information  about  the 
plans  or  the  doings  of  the  conspirators  would  be  ob- 
tained from  him,  he  broke  away  from  his  captors,  and 
putting  his  knee  upon  the  chest  dared  them  to  come  on. 

"Tush!"  said  the  leader;  "we  do  not  suppose 
that  anything  can  be  got  from  you  by  killing  you. 
But  we  have  other  means  which  we  think  will  prove 
efficacious. ' ' 

At  a  sign  from  him  one  of  the  pretended  officers 
brought  in  Gihei's  child,  a  boy  about  a  year  old  ;  and 
the  spokesman  of  the  party  made  as  though  ready  to 
thrust  the  point  of  his  sword  into  the  child's  throat. 
But  Gihei  was  to  all  appearance  unmoved. 

"Come  !  "  cried  his  tormentor,  "you  do  not 
mean  to  tell  me  that  that  chest  does  not  contain  chain 
armor,  surcoats,  spears,  and  matchlocks  furnished  by 
you  to  Kuranosuke  and  his  fellow-conspirators !  Out 
with  the  truth  or  we  will  hack  you  in  pieces." 

"The  truth  is,"  retorted  Gihei,  "  that  I  deal  in 
arms  as  well  as  in  other  things.  There  is  nothing  in 
that  for  which  one  should  be  hacked  in  pieces.  But 
if  there  is,  fall  to  and  practice  the  six  cuts  on  me," 
and  quitting  the  chest  he  made  a  dash  upon  his 
captors. 

"Hold!"  cried  Kuranosuke,  throwing  off  the 
cover  and  springing  from  the  chest.  "  No  one, 
236 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

Gihei,  can  ask  further  proof  of  your  faithfulness  and 
constancy."  All  of  his  associates,  some  of  whom 
had  doubted  Gihei  might  play  them  false,  were 
now  of  the  same  opinion,  and  had  lowered  their 
weapons  and  were  bowing,  with  expressions  of  their 
admiration  of  his  courage  and  loyalty,  to  the  aston- 
ished Gihei.  The  object  of  the  ruse  was  explained, 
and  all  but  three  of  the  party  returned  to  the  junks. 

At  this  time  Sono  (who  had  been  sent  back  to  her 
father  without  a  word  of  explanation,  and  had  been 
persecuted  all  day  by  that  worthy  person  with  orders 
to  consider  her  dismissal  as  equivalent  to  a  divorce 
and  to  hold  herself  in  readiness  to  accept  a  new 
spouse),  terrified  by  the  prospect  held  out  to  her  and 
anxious  about  her  husband  and  child,  had  returned, 
and  while  Gihei  was  entertaining  his  remaining  guests, 
had  prevailed  upon  the  servant  to  admit  her.  Gihei, 
hearing  her  voice,  went  out  to  persuade  her  to  go  back 
to  her  father's  ;  but  as  he  could  not  tell  her  his  actual 
reasons  and  was  too  dull  to  invent  others,  he  did  not 
readily  succeed.  He  was  perplexed,  moreover,  about 
the  matter  of  the  divorce,  as  there  was  no  doubt  that, 
in  the  circumstances,  her  father  could  compel  Sono 
to  re-marry.  Sono  left  the  house,  but  would  go  no 
farther  than  the  doorstep. 

The  three  samurai  could  not  but  hear  something  of 
the  dispute,  and  Kuranosuke,  whispering  some  instruc- 
237 


Sunrise  Stories 

tions  to  the  others,  they  passed  out  at  the  rear  of  the 
house  and,  getting  around  to  the  front  as  Gihei  shut 
the  door,  caught  the  disconsolate  Sono  by  her  gar- 
ments and,  cutting  off  her  long  black  hair,  ran  away 
with  it,  laughing. 

Sono's  outcries  brought  Gihei  again  upon  the  scene, 
and  Kuranosuke  and  the  two  ronin,  who  had  re- 
entered  the  house,  followed.  The  difficulty  was  laid 
before  them,  Sono  not  daring  to  believe  her  eyes  that 
the  two  ronin  who  appeared  as  her  husband's  guests 
were  the  same  who  had  robbed  her  of  her  hair.  But 
when  Kuranosuke  made  a  parting  gift  of  the  lost 
tresses  to  her  husband  and  accompanied  it  by  the  ad- 
vice to  Sono  to  take  temporary  vows  as  a  religious, 
the  matter  was  made  clear.  It  was,  indeed,  an  effec- 
tual way  of  getting  rid  of  unwelcome  suitors. 

"The  separation  need  not  be  for  long,"  said  Kura- 
nosuke, as  the  ronin  took  deave  of  Sono  and  her  hus- 
band. "You  will  hear  of  us  before  Sono's  hair  has 
had  time  to  grow ;  and  I  promise  you  that  when  we 
rush  to  the  attack  our  battle-cry  will  be  '  Ama- 
gawa.'  Would  that  you,  Gihei,  were  a  samurai.  You 
might  then  be  one  of  us ;  none  more  brave. ' ' 

The  two  junks  with  the  forty-six  ronin  on  board 

(for,  owing  to  a  series  of  unfortunate  mistakes  one  had 

died  by  his  own  hand) ,  slipped  out  of  Sakai  harbor 

before  dawn,  and  in  due  course  arrived  at  Kamakura- 

238 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

Moronao's  house,  flanked  on  either  side  by  the 
residences  of  other  nobles,  stood  on  a  spit  of  land 
that  ran  out  into  the  bay.  It  could  be  approached 
both  by  land  and  by  water. 

The  night  chosen  for  the  attempt  was  overcast,  but 
the  ground  was  white  with  snow.  Rikiya,  with  half 
the  band,  was  ordered  to  scale  the  wall  by  the  front 
entrance.  Kuranosuke,  with  the  remainder  of  the 
ronin,  were  to  force  the  water-gate,  which  was 
weaker.  A  signal  was  agreed  on  by  which  Rikiya 
might  know  that  his  father's  men  had  gained  an 
entrance. 

Rikiya  was  the  first  in  position.  His  party  heard 
the  sentry's  rattle  as  he  went  his  rounds  within,  but 
waited  what  seemed  to  them  an  age  for  Kuranosuke's 
whistle.  Growing  impatient,  two  of  them  climbed 
the  wall,  and  let  themselves  drop  on  the  inside.  Be- 
fore long  the  sentry  returned,  and  as  he  passed  the 
clump  of  bushes  behind  which  they  lay  concealed, 
the  two  ronin  sprang  out  upon  him,  and,  throwing 
him  to  the  ground,  pinioned  his  arms  tightly.  Thus 
placed  at  their  mercy  the  man  was  forced  to  con- 
tinue his  rounds  led  by  his  two  captors,  one  of  whom 
gave,  at  intervals,  the  customary  signal  with  the 
clappers.  At  length,  Kuranosuke's  whistle  from  the 
rear  told  them  that  the  water-gate  had  been  forced, 
and  shouting  "Amagawa,"  they  slid  back  the  bolts 
239 


Sunrise  Stories 

of  the  great  gate  and  let  in  the  twenty  men  com- 
manded by  Rikiya. 

The  shutters  of  the  main  building  were  tightly 
closed ;  but  Kuranosuke  had  provided  for  that.  Two 
of  his  followers  carried  large  bundles  of  tall  and  stout 
bamboos  strung  like  enormous  bows,  and  these  were 
now  inserted  between  the  grooved  beams  in  which 
the  shutters  slid.  When  the  strings  were  simultane- 
ously cut,  the  bamboos  straightening  pried  the  beams 
apart,  so  that  the  shutters  fell  clattering  in  upon  the 
veranda,  and  were  trampled  by  the  ronin  springing  to 
the  assault.  The  guards  and  domestics,  awakened  by 
their  shouts  and  the  noise  of  the  falling  shutters,  were 
slaughtered  as  they  came.  Bannai,  who  had  clam- 
bered up  among  the  rafters  that  supported  the  roof 
of  the  great  hall,  was  descried  and  followed,  and  his 
dead  body  fell  to  the  floor  in  the  midst  of  the  fleeing 
defenders  of  the  yashiki. 

Kuranosuk^,  who  had  seated  himself  on  a  camp 
stool  in  the  garden  to  direct  the  attack,  had  his  atten- 
tion distracted  for  some  moments  by  the  servants  and 
retainers  of  the  two  neighboring  houses,  who,  aroused 
by  the  tumult,  now  swarmed  upon  the  roofs  with  lan- 
terns and  torches,  and  demanded  to  know  the  cause 
of  the  uproar.  He  was  obliged  to  explain  to  them 
his  grievance  against  Moronao,  and  assured  them  that 
vengeance  was  the  only  object  in  view,  that  every 
240 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

precaution  had  been  taken  against  fire,  and  that  no 
damage  could  ensue  to  their  dwellings.  But  if  they 
thought  themselves  bound  to  come  to  their  neighbor's 
assistance,  he  was  ready  for  them.  They  replied  that 
they  were  not  concerned  about  Moronao,  and  with- 
drew. 

In  the  few  minutes  taken  by  this  parley  the  melee 
was  over.  Moronao's  guards  had  surrendered  or  had 
been  cut  down,  and  the  ronin  were  dispersed  every- 
where about  the  building  seeking  its  master.  But  he 
was  nowhere  to  be  discovered,  and  it  began  to  look 
as  though  he  had  escaped.  The  karo  gave  orders  to 
guard  the  gates,  and  began  a  systematic  search  of  the 
grounds  and  outhouses.  In  one  of  the  latter,  where 
charcoal  was  stored,  the  unlucky  nobleman  was  found, 
and,  his  face  and  dress  black  with  the  coal,  was 
dragged  through  the  snow  to  Kuranosuke. 

Bowing  in  acknowledgment  of  his  captive's  rank 
and  briefly  recounting  the  miseries  that  he  had 
brought  upon  the  clan,  the  karo  politely  begged  him 
to  commit  hara-kiri  and  thus,  in  a  manner  honorable 
to  himself  and  becoming  his  high  station,  to  place  his 
head  at  their  disposal. 

"You  say  well,"  Moronao  replied.  "My  head 
is  at  your  service."  And,  drawing  his  short  sword, 
he  made  as  if  about  to  disembowel  himself.  But,  in- 
stead, rising  to  his  feet,  he  aimed  a  blow  at  Kurano- 
241 


Sunrise  Stories 

suke",  which  the  latter  avoided,  and  caught  his  treach- 
erous assailant  by  the  wrist.  "  A  clever  trick  !  "  he 
cried,  "  but  it  has  not  served  your  purpose."  And, 
throwing  his  enemy  to  the  ground  :  "  Have  at  him, 
men,"  he  shouted,  "he  is  yours." 

"  O,  happy  hour  !  "  the  ronin  cried,  as  each  bur- 
ied his  sword  in  the  body  of  their  enemy.  "  O,  blest 
event !  For  this  have  we  abandoned  parents,  wives, 
and  children,  and  lived  as  homeless  outcasts.  For  this 
have  we  refused  to  take  honorable  service,  that  we 
might  be  free  to  wreak  vengeance  upon  our  destroyer. 
Could  we  live  to  see  the  udonge  *  bloom,  never  again 
might  we  hope  to  meet  the  like  good  fortune." 

Day  had  dawned  unnoticed.  The  head  was  now 
severed  from  the  body,  and  after  having  been  care- 
fully washed,  was  placed  upon  a  stand  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  hall  before  the  mortuary  tablet  of  Yenya, 
which  Kuranosuke  had  set  up  there.  Each  ronin  in 
turn  burned  incense  before  the  tablet  and  called  upon 
the  soul  of  their  dead  lord  to  regard  their  act  with 
favor.  Then,  forming  in  procession,  the  ronin  passed 
out  through  the  streets  of  Kamakura,  already  ringing 
with  the  news  of  their  exploit,  to  lay  the  head  upon 
Yenya's  tomb  and  there  forestall  the  shogun's  justice 
by  dying  "  the  honorable  death." 

*  A  sort  of  wild  fig  which  (the  flowers  being  hidden  within  the 
fruit)  is  fabled  to  bloom  only  once  in  three  thousand  years. 

242 


The  Forty-seven  Free  Lances 

Such,  all  minor  incidents  omitted,  is  the  story  of 
the  Faithful  Ronin,  which,  in  some  of  its  many  ver- 
sions, was  read  by  every  Japanese  brought  up  to  the 
old  ideas  and  aspirations.  In  one  edition  or  another 
the  adventures  of  every  one  of  the  forty-seven  are  re- 
counted, and,  taken  together,  they  may  almost  be 
said  to  have  been  the  Bible  of  feudal  Japan.  The 
tale,  in  its  main  features,  is  founded  upon  fact.  The 
Yenya  of  the  story  was  Asano,  Lord  of  Harima,  in 
Aki,  who,  having  drawn  sword  upon  one  Kira  Kod- 
suke,  a  court  official,  was  compelled  to  commit  hara- 
kiri,  as  is  related  of  Yenya,  March  14,  1702.  The 
murder  of  Kodsuke  (Moronao  in  the  story)  took  place 
nine  months  later,  at  his  yashiki  in  Yedo.  With  the 
exception  of  these  and  similar  changes  of  name,  place, 
and  date,  designed  to  evade  the  decree  against  the 
publication  of  events  of  importance  to  the  government, 
the  narrative  follows  the  actual  facts  pretty  closely. 
It  furnishes  the  most  striking  and  faithful  picture  of 
the  society  of  the  Tokugawa  shogunate,  with  its  exag- 
gerated loyalty  to  family  and  chief  to  which  all  other 
sentiments  were  made  to  bow,  now  happily  replaced 
by  a  broader  and  more  enlightened  patriotism.* 

*  Mr.  Mitford,  in  his  "  Tales  of  Old  Japan,"  gives  an  account  of 
the  actual  occurrence.  Of  the  different  versions  of  the  ''Chiush- 
ingura,"  two  have  been  translated  into  English  :  Bakin's,  the  most 
artistic,  by  the  late  Edward  Greey  and  S.  Saito,  and  an  earlier 
text  by  Mr.  F.  V.  Dickens. 

243 


XIX 
ADVENTURES  OF   A  VAGABOND   PRIEST 

THE  illustrations  to  one  of  the  numerous  pot-boil- 
ers thrown  off  by  the  prolific  Bakin,  show  the  author 
listening  with  an  air  of  pleased  attention  to  the  tales 
told  him  by  all  manners  and  conditions  of  beings. 
He  sits  in  open-mouthed  admiration  on  his  cushion 
embroidered  with  spider-webs,  while  Lady  Ben  ten, 
Buddha  with  his  ringed  staff,  Hachiman  with  his 
quiver,  the  elemental  deities  of  storm  and  thunder, 
and  Gongen  Sama,*  carved  in  granite,  recount  their 
histories ;  he  chuckles  over  a  friend's  "  good  story," 
good-humoredly  gives  a  hearing  to  the  principals  in 
the  celebrated  case  of  Fox  vs.  Melon,  and  looks  up 
delighted  from  his  manuscript,  while  the  candle  burns 
low  in  the  socket,  to  hearken  to  some  quaint  bit  of 
gossip  related  by  his  pudding-faced  servant.  It  is  his 
ability  to  draw  upon  both  the  actual  life  of  his  own 
day  and  the  legends  and  traditions  of  the  past,  that 
gives  Bakin  his  peculiar  place  as  the  Walter  Scott  of 
Japan,  and  makes  him  the  most  considerable  figure  in 
*  lyeyasu. 
244 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

the  popular  literature  of  the  Tokugawa  times.  He  is 
at  his  best  when  his  imagination  moves  freely  in  a 
tale  of  his  own  invention.  Hence  his  romance, 
"The  Stormy  Moon,"  is  one  of  the  best  examples  of 
his  genius,  for,  though  the  time  of  the  story  is  thrown 
back  to  the  fourteenth  century,  the  few  historical 
characters  introduced  are  but  slightly  sketched  in  the 
background  and  the  more  important  might  have  be- 
longed to  the  Japan  of  his  own  day. 

Some  time  after  the  death  of  Nitta  Yoshisada,  and 
during  the  war  of  the  rival  dynasties,  *  there  dwelt 
in  the  mountains  to  the  west  of  Lake  Biwa  a  rough 
fellow  who  had  been  a  soldier  in  Nitta's  army,  and 
who  now  gained  a  scant  living  by  hunting.  This 
distressed  the  good  Buddhist,  his  wife,  exceedingly. 
She  often  remonstrated  with  him,  and  pointed  out 
the  sin  fulness  of  his  calling,  for  who  could  tell  but 
that  human  souls  might  be  imprisoned  in  the  wild 
animals  that  he  killed  ?  But  her  arguments  served 
only  to  amuse  him.  "I  will  believe  those  priests' 
tales  of  yours,"  he  would  say,  "when  I  become  old 
and  feeble-witted,  and  can  no  longer  draw  a  bow  or 
tell  sake  from  water. ' ' 

Not  far  from  Amada's  hovel  a  hermit  had  raised 

his   grass   hut   on    the   site   of  an   ancient   temple. 

Where  thousands  had  formerly  worshipped  there  was 

*  See  Chapter  XIV. 

245 


Sunrise  Stories 

now  a  vast  solitude  :  a  wild  doe — no  other  creature—- 
came at  the  sound  of  the  hermit's  bell,  and  listened 
to  his  prayers.  The  hunter  had  many  times  seen 
her,  and  remarked  her  coat  spotted  with  five  distinct 
colors,  each  of  which  betokened  a  magical  virtue. 
"  What  a  price  that  hide  would  bring  from  the  curio 
collectors  of  Kioto  ! ' '  said  he  as  often  as  he  saw  her, 
and  many  a  day  he  lay  hid  by  her  path,  but  never 
got  her  within  bow-shot.  One  evening,  the  hermit 
being  absent,  Amada  borrowed  his  book  and  bell, 
and  reading  the  services  (for  he  was  an  educated 
man)  the  doe  came,  as  usual,  to  listen.  The  hunter 
dropped  the  book,  picked  up  his  bow  and  arrows, 
which  he  had  hidden,  and  shot  her.  That  night  his 
poor  wife  was  taken  suddenly  ill ;  the  horror  of  his 
deed  weighed  upon  her ;  and  with  her  dying  breath  she 
begged  her  husband  to  have  their  infant  son  brought  up 
as  a  priest,  whose  prayers  might  atone  for  both  their 
failings.  This  Amada  promised,  and  then  forgot; 
but  at  his  death,  some  years  later,  the  headman  of 
the  nearest  village,  who  was  obliged  to  take  charge  of 
the  orphan,  readily  remembered  having  heard  Amada 
speak  of  it,  and  disembarrassed  himself  of  the  young- 
ster at  the  nearest  temple,  belonging  to  his  sect. 
Saikei,  *  as  he  was  called  in  religion,  proved 

*  l<  Illumined  from  the  West,"  that  is,  from   India,  the  birth- 
place of  Buddhism. 

246 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

clever  and  obedient,  and  became  a  favorite  with  the 
monks.  He  learned  readily,  and  was  eager  to  ob- 
lige. But,  as  he  grew  up,  there  came  a  time  when 
strange  desires  began  to  trouble  him.  At  first,  he 
was  tormented  by  ambition  ;  he  would  fain  be  mas- 
ter of  a  fine  temple  and  have  many  pupils  to  listen  to 
his  instructions ;  and,  fearing  that  where  his  humble 
origin  was  so  well  known  this  could  never  come  to 
pass,  he  applied  to  be  transferred  to  another  temple. 
His  request  was  granted,  and  he  was  sent,  well  rec- 
ommended, to  Kanzaki  in  Settsu. 

In  his  new  situation  Saikei  was  at  first  as  well  liked 
as  in  the  old.  But  pride  trod  on  the  heels  of  ambi- 
tion, and  he  grew  intolerable  to  his  companions. 
Moreover,  as  soon  as  he  felt  assured  that  he  might 
attain  the  prize  at  which  he  aimed,  he  began  to  look 
more  closely  into  its  value,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
how  little  he  really  cared  for  it.  At  this  juncture, 
he  began  to  take  an  interest  in  a  young  singing  girl 
from  a  neighboring  tea-house,  who  worshipped  at 
the  temple.  She  wore  a  robe  of  five  colors,  and  was 
very  pretty.  It  was  a  sin,  he  knew,  for  him  to  oc- 
cupy himself  with  such  matters  ;  besides,  it  made 
him  miserable ;  he  did  penance,  and  succeeded,  after 
a  while,  in  expelling  the  image  of  the  pretty  geisha 
from  his  mind.  But  every  now  and  then  the  worth- 
lessness  of  his  life  without  an  aim  would  come  home 
247 


Sunrise  Stories 

to  him,  and,  harassed  by  a  hundred  doubts,  he  would 
ask  himself,  in  despair :  ' '  What  profit  is  there  in 
being  a  bozu  ?  " 

One  afternoon,  having  passed  the  day  in  study, 
Saikei  took  a  stroll  into  the  hills.  It  was  autumn  : 
the  woods  were  gay  with  the  five  colors  of  the  maples. 
From  a  rock  where  he  had  seated  himself,  he  saw  a 
stag  and  his  mate  start  up  from  their  lair  and  plunge 
deeper  into  the  thicket.  All  nature  appeared  to  him 
gracious  and  womanly.  The  sun  was  setting  :  "  Oh, 
radiant  goddess!  "  cried  Saikei,  and  checked  him- 
self on  the  instant.  In  his  creed  the  sun  was  ruled 
not  by  the  Shinto  goddess,  Amaterasu,  but  by  the 
Buddha  of  Enlightenment.  Still,  not  only  the  sun 
but  the  universe  in  its  entirety,  according  to  the 
philosophers,  was  governed  by  love.  Why,  then, 
did  Buddhism  war  against  it?  "If  only  those  idle 
villagers  had  not  been  so  bent  on  taking  a  long  walk, 
they  might  have  dropped  me  at  the  convent  of  the 
Shin,"  thought  he.  "Then  I  might  be  permitted 
to  marry.  But,  now,  my  vows  are  taken,  and  I  am 
in  a  net  from  which  there  is  no  escape." 

So  reasoning  with  himself,  and  paying  little  atten- 
tion to  the  course  that  he  was  taking,  Saikei  de- 
scended the  mountain.  It  was  soon  dark  in  the  val- 
ley, and  in  his  agitation  he  missed  the  way.  The 
road  which  he  took  led  him  by  the  rear  of  the  tea- 
248 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

house  gardens  of  Kanzaki.  A  geisha  was  singing  to 
a  party  of  gentlemen  in  one  of  the  small  pavilions. 
Her  voice  was  fresh  and  sweet,  and  Saikei,  though  it 
was  late,  felt  compelled  to  stop  and  listen.  It  was 
only  when  the  music  ceased,  and  the  gentlemen  arose 
and  departed,  leaving  presents  for  the  singer,  that  he 
came  to  himself  with  a  start,  and  again  took  what  he 
conceived  to  be  the  nearest  way  for  the  convent.  In 
a  few  minutes  he  was  brought  to  a  halt  on  the  brink 
of  a  deep  ravine  where  the  road  suddenly  came  to  an 
end,  and  was  obliged  to  retrace  his  steps.  A  little 
girl  came  out  of  the  cottage  and  ran  to  meet  him. 
"  Mistress  Lotusleaf,"  she  said,  "  desires  to  see  you. 
She  is  rich,  and  would  give  you  money  for  the  tem- 
ple. "  "But  I  am  not  a  begging  priest,"  objected 
Saikei.  Still  he  suffered  himself  to  be  led  into  the 
pavilion,  which  was  dimly  lit  by  a  lantern  screened 
by  a  branch  of  maple. 

It  was  the  same  pretty  girl  he  had  noticed  in  the 
temple,  that  was  seated  on  the  mats  in  the  little 
building.  She  had  need  of  religious  consolation,  she 
said ;  but  something  in  her  manner  displeased  him. 
"  Come,  then,  to  the  temple  at  the  proper  hour,"  he 
returned.  "Nay,"  said  Lotusleaf,  "now,  this  mo- 
ment, I  must  confess — that  ever  since  I  was  sixteen 
I  have  admired  and  loved  you."  In  brief,  Saikei 
found  her  the  most  interesting  of  penitents.  Her 
249 


Sunrise  Stories 

contrition,  when  he  was  about  to  take  his  departure, 
would  move  the  most  hardened  old  bozu  to  stay  and 
comfort  her ;  but  when  he  consented  to  remain,  she 
laughed  at  her  peccadilloes  and  his  scruples.  "  A 
little  sake  will  not  hurt  you,"  she  cried.  "  Come, 
share  this  cup  with  me  !  "  And  Saikei,  who  had 
never  tasted  liquor  before,  was  an  easy  conquest  once 
the  wine  had  passed  his  lips. 

At  daybreak,  the  innkeeper  found  him  fast  asleep 
upon  the  mats  and,  taking  him  for  a  robber,  bought 
from  him  a  roll  of  silk  that  the  girl  had  left  for  him 
with  a  metal  hand-mirror  and  a  note  in  which  'she 
asked  him  to  accept  these  present  and  expressed  the 
hope  that  they  might  meet  again.  The  innkeeper, 
who  was  not  a  temple-goer,  praised  his  disguise,  and 
offered  to  buy  all  that  he  might  steal  while  in  the 
vicinity.  "  I  am  no  blabber,"  quoth  he,  "and  do 
not  publish  my  guests'  affairs.  But,  at  present,  you 
seem  to  need  another  cup  of  the  liquor  you  had  last 
night."  Saikei  pocketed  these  compliments  and  the 
money,  swallowed  the  sake,  hid  the  mirror  in  his 
bosom  as  a  keepsake,  and,  to  the  clinking  of  the 
rings  upon  his  staff,  which  had  quite  a  new  sound  for 
him,  took  the  first  road  that  led  away  from  Kanzaki. 

It  was  yet  early  morning  when  he  entered  a  little 
village  and  seated  himself  in  the  temple  yard  to  think 
over  his  situation.  He  had  broken  his  vows;  he 
250 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

could  not  return  to  his  monastery.  For  all  his  shaven 
head  and  black  gown  he  felt  himself  an  outcast.  His 
life  was  shattered  like  a  cup  upon  a  stone.  He  might 
profess  repentance ;  he  would  be  forgiven,  and  might 
in  time  retrieve  his  reputation.  But  the  very  thought 
of  such  hypocrisy  sickened  him ;  and  he  could  not 
now  give  up  the  hope  of  again  meeting  Lotusleaf.  He 
decided  at  last  to  revisit  his  old  home. 

He  journeyed  in  a  leisurely  way  through  Yamashiro 
into  Omi,  but  there  he  overheard  his  story  gleefully 
related  by  one  blind  shampooer  to  another  as  he  sat 
at  breakfast,  and  he  determined  to  seek  a  livelihood 
elsewhere.  At  Kamakura  he  would  be  far  enough  from 
all  who  knew  him,  and  he  might  find  some  chance  to 
make  his  fortune.  The  question  was  how  to  get  there? 
His  money  had  given  out. 

In  this  strait,  he  remembered  having  seen  on  the 
road  an  ox  laden  with  salt  that  had  licked  the  hand 
of  the  driver.  An  ingenious  idea  occurred  to  him, 
and  revolving  it  in  his  mind,  he  paid  his  reckoning 
with  his  last  coin  and  departed  from  the  inn.  Later 
in  the  day  he  met  an  old  market  woman  whom  he 
frightened  by  threats  of  hell  fire  into  giving  him  as 
alms  all  the  money  that  she  had  with  her.  It  pro- 
cured him  a  night's  lodging  and  a  bath  at  the  next  vil- 
lage, where  he  had  learned  the  salt  dealer  lived.  He 
threw  a  handful  of  salt  in  the  hot  water  and  dipped 
251 


Sunrise  Stories 

his  clothes  in  it  as  well  as  his  body.  When  they  were 
dry,  he  took  his  way  to  the  merchant's  with  an  ex- 
traordinary story  of  how  his  father,  who  had  been  a 
wicked  hunter,  was  now  in  the  hell  of  beasts,  im- 
prisoned in  the  body  of  an  ox.  The  poor  soul  had 
appeared  to  him  in  a  dream,  and  he  had  left  his  dis- 
tant convent  to  seek  him ;  for,  surely  he  thought,  his 
owner,  whoever  he  might  be,  would  show  compassion, 
and  would  treat  kindly  one  who  had  been  a  man  and 
was  now  an  ox.  Ere  the  dealer  or  his  wife,  stupefied 
but  nowise  convinced,  could  interpose  an  objection, 
Saikei  had  drawn  near  the  stable,  where  the  ox,  it  be- 
ing a  holiday,  was  resting.  The  beast  readily  licked 
his  salted  hands,  followed  him  into  the  yard,  and  to 
the  amazement  of  the  good  people,  proceeded  to  eat 
the  priest's  garments.  These  proofs  of  affection  were 
received  with  every  demonstration  of  joy  by  Saikei, 
who  wept  abundantly,  and  reminded  the  ox  of  many 
little  incidents  of  his  boyhood,  retreating  the  while  to 
save  his  robe,  the  animal  eagerly  following  him.  No 
scepticism  could  withstand  this  affecting  scene.  The 
miracle  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  old 
couple,  who  gave  Saikei  a  good  dinner,  presented  him 
with  a  bag  of  money,  and  permitted  him  to  lead 
away  the  ox.  At  the  cattle  fair  at  Otsu,  Saikei  sold 
him  to  a  wretched-looking  countryman  for  a  few  dol- 
lars. His  purse  was  now  well  lined,  and.  after  a 
252 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

night  at  the  best  inn,  he  bought  a  new  pilgrim's  out- 
fit, stowed  away  in  his  knapsack  some  bottles  of  sake 
and  the  mirror  that  Lotusleaf  had  given  him,  and  set 
forth  for  Kamakura,  alternately  praying — from  habit 
— and  singing  comic  songs. 

We  must  now  turn  for  a  little  to  the  luckless  pur- 
chaser of  the  ox.  This  was  one  Takeakira,  of  Seta, 
a  man  who  had  been,  like  Saikei's  father,  a  soldier  in 
Nitta's  army,  and  who,  instead  of  dying  with  his  chief 
on  the  scarped  rock  in  Echizen,  had  taken  to  his 
heels,  and  had  since  gained  a  miserable  subsistence  for 
himself,  his  feeble  wife  and  two  children  by  working  as 
a  driver  for  merchants  of  the  towns  along  Lake  Biwa. 
By  extraordinary  self-denial  Takeakira  had  saved 
the  purchase-money  for  the  beast  that  he  now  led 
proudly  home,  happy  in  the  fact  that  he  had,  at  last, 
six  legs  instead  of  two,  and  could  make  a  start  on  his 
own  account  as  a  carrier.  Yet,  greater  luck,  as  it  ap- 
peared, was  in  store  for  him.  He  had  scarcely  reached 
home  and  received  the  congratulations  of  his  family 
on  his  purchase,  when  there  arrived  a  man  from 
Sagami  with  a  message  from  his  brother,  of  whom  he 
had  always  believed  that  he  had  been  killed  in  Nitta's 
last  battle.  But  Takeyasu  had  also  made  use  of  his 
legs,  and,  when  the  country  had  settled  down  after 
the  wars,  had  obtained  employment  as  a  falconer  with 
a  Lord  Kaga,  of  Sagami.  His  lordship,  on  a  journey  to 
=53 


Sunrise  Stories 

Kioto,  had  obtained  information  of  Takeakira' s  where- 
abouts and  condition,  and,  through  his  brother,  now 
offered  to  take  him,  also,  into  his  service.  The  poor 
man,  overjoyed  at  the  good  news,  took  down  the  two 
swords,  which  he  had  carefully  put  away  out  of  sight 
since  the  day  when  he  had  disgraced  himself,  and 
thrust  them  into  his  girdle.  He  was  once  more  a 
gentleman.  He  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  wait 
until  the  morrow.  He  would  part  at  once  to  thank 
his  brother  and  Lord  Kaga,  and  make  arrangements 
for  the  moving. 

Let  us  leave  him  also  on  his  way  east,  and  see  how 
his  good  fortune  turned  to  evil.  One  day,  in  his 
absence,  an  unlucky  shower  drove  Tomosada,  the  salt 
dealer,  to  take  refuge  in  his  hut.  There  he  discov- 
ered the  ill-omened  ox ;  and  concluding  that  he  had 
been  deceived  and  that  Takeakira  was  a  party  to  the 
fraud,  he  procured  the  assistance  of  the  headman  of 
Otsu  and  his  officers,  and,  since  he  could  discover 
neither  of  the  culprits,  had  Takeakira' s  children  ar- 
rested. He  would  have  had  the  mother  arrested  also, 
but  she  died  as  they  were  dragging  her  to  the  door. 
The  children  were  put  to  the  torture,  but  nothing 
could  draw  from  them  an  admission  of  their  father's 
guilt  nor  make  them  disclose  his  whereabouts. 

Unconscious  of  these  consequences  of  his  rascality 
Saikei,  meanwhile,  continued  on  his  way  to  Kamakura, 
254 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

by  the  Eastern  main  road,  along  which  Takeakira 
was  also  journeying,  some  stages  in  the  rear.  But, 
well  supplied  with  money,  the  former  took  life  easily. 
It  was  winter  when  he  reached  the  Hakone  Moun- 
tains, and  Takeakira  was  then  well  on  his  way  home, 
having  arranged  matters  satisfactorily  with  his  brother 
and  Lord  Kaga.  One  evening,  Saikei  found  himself 
at  nightfall  in  a  gloomy  mountain  pass  and  far  from 
any  inn.  A  wood-cutter,  of  whom  he  inquired  where 
he  might  find  lodging,  pointed  out  to  him  the  way 
to  a  temple,  but  assured  him  that  the  place  was 
haunted  by  the  spirit  of  the  late  master.  Saikei  put 
on  a  bold  countenance,  and  advanced,  jingling  the 
metal  rings  attached  to  his  staff.  It  was  a  likely 
enough  place  for  ghosts.  The  road  led  through  the 
recesses  of  a  pine  forest  and  its  sides  were  bordered 
with  tombstones,  for  a  great  battle  had  been  fought 
in  the  neighborhood.  "  I  should  like  well  enough 
to  see  a  light,"  thought  he.  On  the  instant  a  flame 
shot  up  at  the  end  of  the  avenue,  and  showed  him 
the  outlines  of  the  temple  with  two  crouching  figures 
which  he  at  once  recognized  for  priests.  Then, 
again,  all  was  darkness.  Our  hero  renewed  his  cour- 
age by  a  draught  from  one  of  his  earthenware  bottles, 
and  charged  blindly  on  the  temple,  bursting  into  the 
area  through  a  postern.  One  of  the  priests  had  by 
this  time  lighted  a  lantern,  and  over  an  intervening 
255 


Sunrise  Stories 

fence  he  could  see  into  the  interior.  Its  two  occu- 
pants, in  the  extreme  of  terror,  were  huddled  close 
together,  and  gripped  each  other's  arms  like  crabs ; 
and,  as  he  gazed,  a  momentary  flame  rose  from  be- 
hind the  image  of  Buddha,  and  the  two  priests,  with 
howls  of  dismay,  sprang  to  their  feet  and  ran  from 
the  temple. 

Seized  with  panic,  Saikei  ran  also.  He  brought 
up  on  the  bank  of  a  little  stream,  and  again  had  re- 
course to  his  bottle.  It  was  now  midnight ;  the 
moon  had  come  out  and  lit  the  wintry  scene  like 
day ;  but  the  liquor  had  made  him  maudlin,  and,  ob- 
livious of  the  cold  and  of  his  recent  fright,  he  drew 
Lotusleaf  s  mirror  from  his  bosom,  and  gazed  at  it 
long  and  tenderly.  However,  he  was  not  yet  at  the 
end  of  the  night's  adventures.  A  face  appeared 
suddenly  upon  the  polished  metal,  that  of  a  man. 
bearded  and  scowling.  "  Thousand  gods  !"  cried 
Saikei.  "  Hae  !  "  called  out  the  new-comer.  "I 
will  have  your  black  robe,  at  least,  my  reverend 
friend,"  and  fell  at  him  with  a  two-handed  sword. 

Seeing  that  it  was  only  a  robber,  Saikei  acquitted 
himself  manfully,  warding  off  the  fellow's  blows  with 
his  staff;  then,  finding  an  opportunity,  he  delivered 
a  swinging  stroke  on  the  animal's  shins,  which  gave 
way  from  under  him.  But,  though  floored,  he  was 
not  disabled,  and,  a  second  thief  coming  up,  Saikei 
256 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

was  fain  to  try  the  effect  of  a  magic  formula  which 
he  had  learned  at  the  convent.  To  his  surprise,  as 
he  repeated  it,  his  assailants'  limbs  grew  stiff  and 
they  stood  rooted  to  the  ground,  powerless  to  move 
as  a  stone  image.* 

Reduced  to  helplessness,  the  two  scoundrels  were 
forced  to  confess  their  sins,  to  the  amusement  of 
Saikei,  who  could  hardly  keep  from  laughing  at  their 
protestations  of  repentance.  "  But,  where  do  you 
live?"  he  demanded,  as  it  occurred  to  him  that 
even  a  robber's  den  might  be  a  better  retreat  for  the 
remainder  of  the  night  than  the  snowy  bank  of  the 
river. 

The  two  worthies  appeared  to  have  been  stricken 
dumb.  Each  nudged  the  other.  "Bear  with  us, 
your  holiness,"  cried  the  taller  of  the  two.  "  But 
promise  to  absolve  us  beforehand  and  everything  shall 
be  made  known." 

Saikei  having  granted  them  plenary  absolution  in 
advance,  the  two  thieves,  helping  one  another  out, 
told  him  how,  prowling  about  the  temple  while  the 
late  master  was  on  his  death-bed,  they  had  heard 
him  several  times  complain  of  being  robbed  by  one 
of  his  priests  of  the  money  with  which  he  had  in- 
tended to  endow  the  temple.  Later,  after  the  master 

*  Numerous  instances  are  known  of  paralysis  induced  by  fear 
of  magic  spells. 

257 


Sunrise  Stories 

had  died,  the  nights  growing  cold,  they  began  to 
make  use  of  one  of  the  outhouses  of  the  temple  to 
sleep  in.  But  the  smaller  of  the  two,  Shirobaye, 
snored  so  loudly  that  the  tall  fellow,  Kurobaye,  fear- 
ing they  might  be  discovered,  went  out  to  recon- 
noitre. The  priests  were  awake,  and  much  more 
frightened  than  he  at  Shirobaye's  roarings.  Finding 
them  such  cowards,  they  then  conceived  the  scheme 
of  personating  the  ghost  of  the  master,  and,  that 
night,  had  finished  by  driving  the  priests  out  of  their 
temple. 

"  Pardon  !  "  cried  Shirobaye.  "  We  have  sinned. 
But  if  Buddha  will  have  mercy  this  time,  we  will 
never  more  molest  a  holy  bozu." 

Saikei  could  no  longer  contain  himself.  "  Ha  ! 
ha!  "  he  laughed,  "you  are  as  green  as  young  rice 
and  need  careful  tending.  Listen  !  I  knew  of  your 
proceedings  at  the  temple  and  trapped  ye  both  be- 
cause I  have  need  of  ye.  Both  must  go  to  Sokokura 
and  exchange  your  swords  for  priests'  gowns,  shave 
your  heads,  fast,  and  practise  good  manners.  Do 
this  for  a  month  and  then  return  here.  Ye  will  find 
me  master  of  the  temple,  and  ye  shall  be  my  assist- 
ants. That  will  be  pleasanter  and  more  profitable 
than  lying  in  wait  for  travellers  by  the  river-bank 
these  cold  nights." 

He  gave  the  rascals  a  little  money,  and,  for  him- 
258 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

self,  went  on  to  the  next  village,  where  he  put  up  at 
the  best  inn  and  spent  the  month  in  making  himself 
familiar  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Shin  sect,  which 
enjoined  on  its  ministers  a  much  less  rigorous  disci- 
pline than  that  in  which  he  had  been  educated. 

The  frightened  priests  had  really  abandoned  the 
temple,  and  he  found  little  difficulty  in  having  the 
position  of  master  thrust  upon  him,  and  in  winning 
over  his  congregation  to  the  tenets  he  had  himself 
adopted.  His  two  rogues  returned,  and  spite  of  their 
rude  manners  made  passable  acolytes.  On  the  day 
of  his  appointment  Saikei  laid  the  ghost  of  his  pre- 
decessor and  recovered  the  stolen  money,  which  the 
absconding  priests  had  left  with  a  lay  confederate. 
This  exploit  established  his  reputation,  and  his  fame 
as  a  preacher  and  miracle- worker  was  extended  day 
by  day  until  it  attained  even  to  Sagami. 

When  Take"akira  had  reached  that  town  he  found 
his  elder  brother  married  to  a  young  woman  not  al- 
together unknown  to  him  or  to  the  reader,  namely 
Lotusleaf.  His  good  lord,  who  had  been  of  the 
party  that  had  enjoyed  her  music  on  that  evening  in 
Kanzaki  when  Saikei  made  her  acquaintance,  remem- 
bering Takeyasu's  lonely  condition,  had  sent  for  the 
koto-player,  who  was  happy  to  be  so  comfortably 
provided  for.  But  Takeakira  had  heard  of  her  affair 
with  the  young  priest,  and  was  by  no  means  pleased 
259 


Sunrise  Stories 

to  have  such  a  notorious  beauty  for  a  sister-in-law. 
However,  he  said  nothing  to  his  brother,  but  took  an 
opportunity  to  privately  threaten  Lotusleaf  that  he 
would  take  vengeance  with  his  own  hand  should  he 
find  at  any  time  that  her  intimacy  with  Saikei  was 
renewed. 

Soon  after  Takeakira  had  left  for  home  Lotusleaf 
discovered  that  the  new  priest  at  the  neighboring 
temple  was  no  other  than  Saikei.  The  woman  had 
her  scruples,  and  the  priest  his  brand  new  reputation 
to  maintain ;  but  the  husband  was  old  and  ailing, 
and  might  at  any  time  make  straight  their  way  by 
dying.  An  accident  hastened  the  desired  consum- 
mation, and  while  Takeakira,  burning  for  revenge  on 
the  man  who  had  caused  the  destruction  of  his  home, 
was  on  his  second  journey  from  Otsu,  Takeyasu  en- 
tered on  another  state  of  existence. 

On  the  evening  of  the  seventh  day  after  the  funeral, 
Saikei  called  at  the  house  to  read  the  prayers  for  the 
dead.  The  services  were  in  progress  when  Takeakira 
returned.  He  had  found  at  Otsu  his  cottage  ruined, 
his  wife  dead,  his  children  imprisoned,  himself  out- 
lawed because  of  Saikei's  crime  in  the  affair  of  the 
ox.  He  had  come  back  determined  to  reject  the 
offer  of  Lord  Kaga  and  to  devote  his  life,  if  need  be, 
to  tracking  out  and  punishing  the  priest.  Entering 
the  house,  he  recognized  his  enemy  by  the  light  of 
260 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

the  funeral  candles,  and,  snatching  his  dead  brother's 
sword  from  the  rack,  ran  in  upon  him.  But  Saikei 
dodged  his  blow  and,  picking  up  a  bronze  incense 
burner,  felled  him  with  it.  He  then  overturned  the 
lights  and  escaped.  Lotusleaf  entering  with  a  tray 
of  sweetmeats,  came  in  Takeakira's  way  in  the  dark, 
and  met  the  doom  intended  for  Saikei.  For  this 
crime  Tak6akira  was  sentenced  to  disembowel  him- 
self. As  for  Saikei,  he  at  once  took  to  his  heels, 
carrying  away  the  temple  funds,  and  his  two  accom- 
plices returned  to  their  old  avocation. 

From  this  point  on  an  element  of  the  supernatural 
enters  into  the  story,  and  gods  and  spirits  take  part 
in  determining  Saikei's  fate.  Making  his  way  back 
to  his  native  Omi,  Saikei  was  caught  in  a  thunder- 
storm upon  Kagami-yama.*  A  bolt  fell  near  him 
splitting  a  huge  tree  and  leaving  a  small  black  animal 
imprisoned  in  the  cleft.  He  thrust  his  staff  between 
the  halves  of  the  trunk  and  prying  them  apart  set  the 
creature  free.  It  vanished  in  the  storm.  Searching 
himself,  Saikei  found  that  he  had  lost  his  treasured 
mirror,  and,  turning  back  to  look  for  it,  was  soon 
lost,  himself,  in  the  windings  of  the  mountain  paths. 
The  sun  went  down,  and  he  was  left  in  darkness. 

After  walking  until  he  was    tired,  he  sat  down  to 
rest  at  the  mouth  of  a  deep  glen,  and  presently  was 
*  Mirror  Mountain. 
261 


Sunrise  Stories 

aware  of  a  light  shining  far  ahead.  Stumbling  on 
toward  it,  he  arrived  in  a  few  minutes  at  a  great  stone 
gateway,  such  as  might  be  the  entrance  to  a  splendid 
palace;  at  which  he  wondered,  for  he  thought  he 
knew  the  position  of  every  considerable  building  in 
those  parts.  The  gate  opened  readily  to  his  sum- 
mons, and  he  was  admitted,  not  to  palace  or  mon- 
astery, but  to  an  enormous  cavern  that  ran  far  back 
into  the  heart  of  the  mountain.  The  whole  interior 
was  filled  with  a  dim  white  light  that  radiated  from 
the  garments  of  a  lady  who  stood  awaiting  him ;  and 
beside  her,  wrapped  in  silk,  lay  the  animal  that  he  had 
set  free  from  the  thunder -stricken  tree  that  morning. 

The  lady  received  him  graciously  and  arranged  a 
screen  and  pillow  for  his  bed,  but  he  could  not  sleep 
for  the  strangeness  of  the  adventure  and  the  misty 
light  that  filled  the  place.  About  midnight  there 
came  a  knocking  at  the  gate,  and  he  heard  his  hostess 
go  out  to  answer  the  summons.  Apparently,  the 
customs  of  the  place  were  most  primitive,  yet  its  mis- 
tress seemed  a  very  great  lady,  such  as  the  consort  of 
one  of  the  early  emperors  might  have  been.  Impelled 
by  an  unconquerable  curiosity,  Saikei  arose  and  fol- 
lowed her.  She  stood  in  the  dewy  grass  on  the  sum- 
mit of  the  hill,  against  which  rested  a  dense  gray 
cloud  that  hid  the  distant  landscape.  For  a  moment, 
Saikei  distinguished  the  form  of  a  water-sprite,  a 
262 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

messenger  from  the  sea-god ;  and  he  heard  these 
words  :  "  It  is  your  stint.  To-morrow,  rain  must 
pour  from  Obata  to  Musa." 

Plainly  his  hostess  was  a  rain-goddess ;  for  the 
deities,  he  knew,  were  ordered  much  like  earthly 
daimios,  who  were  bound  to  render  service  in  rota- 
tion to  the  shogun.  The  lady  turning  beheld  Saikei, 
and  seeming  not  in  the  least  offended,  said,  smiling- 
ly :  "  Listeners  must  join  in  the  plot.  Now,  promise 
that,  in  addition  to  what  you  have  already  done  for 
me,  you  will  take  my  husband's  place  to-morrow. 
That  is  he  on  the  mats,  within.  You  freed  him  from 
the  cleft  tree  ;  but  his  arm  is  broken,  and  he  cannot 
carry  out  the  sea-god's  instructions.  You  will  ride 
the  clouds  in  his  place  and  take  care  that  the  rain 
falls  where  it  is  needed  ?  ' ' 

"I  am  not  a  holy  hermit,"  muttered  Saikei.  "I 
cannot  perform  such  wonders." 

But  the  lady,  still  smiling,  promised  to  instruct 
him.  "It  is  nothing,"  said  she.  "  You  have  only 
to  maintain  your  balance,  direct  the  cloud  by  your 
will,  and  shake  the  bamboo  sprinkler  with  discretion. 
And  I  will  teach  you  other  magic  means  of  control- 
ling springs,  and  streams,  and  every  form  of  water. 
But  you  must  promise  to  use  your  knowledge  for  good 
ends." 

Saikei  promised,  telling  himself  that  magical  power 
263 


Sunrise  Stories 

might  somehow  restore  to  him  Lotusleaf  and  secure 
him  against  Takeakira,  little  dreaming  that  both 
were  dead. 

The  following  day  he  guided  the  clouds  and  dis- 
tributed the  rain  over  the  growing  rice  fields.  But 
as  he  grew  accustomed  to  the  position  the  business 
seemed  a  dull  one  ;  therefore  he  raised  the  sprinkler 
aloft  and  shook  it  vigorously.  Immediately  lightning 
issued  from  beneath  him,  the  thunder-drums  rattled, 
and  a  furious  storm  of  wind  and  rain  broke  over  Omi. 

Saikei  turned  his  attention  to  the  dwelling  of  his 
old  friend,  the  salt  dealer,  stripped  off  its  roof,  and 
sent  the  lightning  dancing  about  his  premises.  But  in 
the  midst  of  his  sport  he  slipped  from  the  cloud  and 
fell  heavily  into  the  ruined  stable.  There  he  was 
caught  by  one  of  the  servants,  and,  while  insensible 
from  his  fall,  was  bound  hand  and  foot.  Next  day, 
he  was  bundled  into  a  hamper  and  taken  to  the 
castle. 

When  brought  before  his  judges,  Saikei  recovered 
his  senses  and  bethought  him  of  the  lessons  in  magic 
that  he  had  received  from  the  Lady  of  Kagami-Yama. 
He  threw  off  the  cords  that  bound  him,  and,  rising  in 
air,  passed  from  the  view  of  his  accusers  uninjured  by 
the  arrows,  javelins,  and  other  missiles  shot  or  hurled 
after  him.  Drawing  a  cloud  about  him,  he  willed 
himself  carried  in  the  direction  of  Mount  Iwato,  and 
264 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

looking  down,  he  perceived,  cowering  over  a  little 
fire  of  leaves  and  brushwood,  where  they  were  heating 
some  sake,  his  two  companions  in  roguery,  Shirobaye 
and  Kurobaye,  whose  ragged  garments  and  sunken 
cheeks  showed  that  the  world  had  gone  badly  with 
them  since  their  palmy  days  in  Sagami.  At  his  de- 
sire the  cloud  deposited  him  near  them  unperceived. 
He  was  the  subject  of  their  talk. 

"A  very  hard  nut  to  crack,  indeed,"  said  Kuro- 
baye. "Yet  Madame  Lotusleaf's  brother-in-law  was 
too  much  for  him.  Hae  !  It  rejoices  me  to  know 
that  such  a  man  could  be  made  to  feel  the  effects  of 
fear,  and  be  taught  to  run  like  another." 

"  Well,  he  has  no  more  to  fear  from  that  hungry 
Takeakira,"  replied  the  giant.  "  What  a  blessing," 
he  continued,  "  to  be  born  a  samurai,  to  be  permitted 
to  rip  one's  belly  open  and  save  one's  honor  when 
caught  in  a  little  felony,  instead  of  dying  a  dog's 
death  by  the  headsman  or  on  the  cross,  as  will  you 
and  I." 

"True,"  answered  his  companion.  "But,  if  the 
old  fellow  be  dead,  his  son  and  daughter  are  expert 
with  their  weapons,  the  boy  with  bow  and  arrow,  the 
girl  with  spear  and  poniard.  Let  the  master  look 
out." 

"  I  do  not  fear  them,"  said  Saikei.  It  was  how- 
ever his  dread  of  a  blood  feud  that  now  determined 
265 


Sunrise  Stories 

him  to  retire  to  the  spot  where,  when  he  was  a  child, 
had  stood  the  hermit's  grass  hut.  The  place  was  dif- 
ficult of  access ;  and  he  posted  his  two  assistants  on 
the  only  pathway  by  which  it  might  be  approached, 
with  orders  to  allow  no  one  to  come  near  him.  It 
was  his  intention,  by  means  of  the  spells  taught  him 
by  the  rain-goddess,  to  dry  up  the  springs  and  cut  off 
the  water-supply  of  the  province  until  the  governor 
and  his  protegees  should  come  to  terms  and  guarantee 
him  immunity  for  the  past.  He  would  then  abjure 
magic,  seek  out  and  marry  Lotusleaf,  and  live  there- 
after as  a  respectable  layman.  But  the  gods  with- 
draw their  favor  from  those  who  do  evil  that  good 
may  come  of  it.  The  children  of  his  enemy  were  in- 
formed by  a  vision  where  to  find  him.  Taye,  dis- 
guised as  Lotusleaf,  ascended  to  his  retreat,  led  by  the 
tinkling  of  his  bell  through  the  fog  with  which  he 
had  encompassed  the  mountain.  The  robbers,  be- 
lieving her  the  koto-player's  ghost,  retreated  before 
her,  and  Saikei,  also  deceived,  allowed  her  to  ap- 
proach him;  again,  as  at  Kanzaki,  he  lost  his  self- 
control,  and  with  it,  his  magic  power ;  and  he  was 
beheaded  by  her  brother  who,  with  a  party  of  armed 
men,  had  followed. 

From  a  note  appended  by  the  author  we  learn  the 
curious  scheme  of  retributive  justice  that  underlies 
his  plot.     That    the  sacrilegious   hunter  might  not 
266 


Adventures  of  a  Vagabond  Priest 

benefit  by  his  son's  prayers,  the  latter  was  permitted 
to  be  seduced  from  virtue  by  Lotusleaf,  who  was  no 
other  than  the  deer  of  five  colors  that  Amada  had 
slain.  Takeakira  and  Takeyasu  were  punished  not 
only  for  their  desertion  of  their  chief,  but  because  it 
was  their  father's  impious  curiosity  that  had  led  to 
the  hunter's  crime.  Thus  evil  produces  evil  until  its 
gathering  clouds  are  dispelled  by  some  act  of  devotion 
like  that  of  the  children  of  Takeakira. 

Elsewhere  Bakin  hesitates  before  the  mysteries  of 
fate  and  free  will ;  but  retails  from  old  books  much 
curious  information  about  healing  plants,  about  arrows 
of  mugwort  of  magical  virtues,  thunder  animals,  cocks 
that  swallow  live  coals  and  rats  that  live  in  fire  ;  but, 
he  adds,  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  such  tales  are 
true,  at  present.  His  views  on  such  matters  would 
be  commended  by  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research. 
"  Strange  happenings  should  be  investigated,  and 
should  not  be  made  light  of  because  they  are  not  easy 
to  understand,"  he  writes,  and  he  gives  as  the  result 
of  his  investigations  into  the  nature  of  thunder,  that  it 
is  caused  by  vapors  of  saltpetre  and  sulphur  which 
uniting,  explode  like  gunpowder  ignited  by  the  heat 
of  the  sun.  But  however  much  at  fault  Bakin's  nat- 
ural philosophy  may  be,  his  characters  are  real  and 
human,  and  since  his  day  Japan  has  seen  no  writer  of 
fiction  to  equal  him. 

267 


XX 

CONCLUSION 

WITH  Bakin  we  may  close  our  survey  of  the  imag- 
inative literature  of  Japan.  The  present  generation 
and  the  last  have  been  busy  making  history  and  lay- 
ing foundations  of  fact  for  future  novelists  and  poets  to 
build  upon  and  have  had  no  time  for  artistic  creation. 
But  before  drawing  any  general  conclusions  from  the 
past,  before  attempting  to  characterize  in  a  few  words 
the  national  genius  that  has  expressed  itself  in  the 
dramatic  dances  and  quaint  legends  of  the  "age  of 
the  gods,"  in  the  Buddhist  stories  of  saints  and  her- 
mits, the  courtly  poetry  of  Nara  and  Kioto,  the  nar- 
ratives of  the  civil  wars,  and  the  popular  plays  and 
novels  of  the  Tokugawa  period,  it  is  necessary  to  pass 
quickly  in  review  the  momentous  changes  which  have 
made  the  present  the  most  striking  and  the  most  glor- 
ious reign  in  the  annals  of  Japan.  If  the  past  throws 
light  upon  the  present,  much  more  does  the  present 
illumine  the  past,  and  it  were  as  unwise  to  give  a  pict- 
ure drawn  exclusively  from  the  literature  of  the  past 
as  it  is  to  look  upon  the  progressive  Japan  of  to-day 
268 


Conclusion 

as  wholly  a  product  of  modern  external  conditions. 
For  this  reason  the  outlines  at  least  of  the  history  of 
the  revolution  must  be  given,  in  order  that  the  more 
recent  events,  which  are  in  everybody's  memory,  and 
which  have  raised  Japan  to  the  position  of  a  first-rate 
power  and  to  be  the  foremost  agent  of  modern  civil- 
ization in  the  far  East,  may  be  seen  in  their  true  rela- 
tions with  the  historic  background. 

Few  Japanese  who  have  had  a  share  in  the  revo- 
lution have  written  about  the  extraordinary  scenes 
through  which  they  have  passed  ;  but  the  story  of 
these  scenes  has  often  been  told  from  a  European  or 
American  standpoint  by  authors,  sometimes  preju- 
diced, but  more  frequently  ignorant  of  the  most 
important  forces  at  work.  To  a  young  Japanese  re- 
garding the  movement  from  the  inside  and  sharing  in 
the  ideas  and  aspirations  involved  in  it,  it  naturally 
presented  quite  another  aspect  from  that  shown  in  the 
pages  of  these  writers.  In  its  later  stages  the  move- 
ment has  been  represented  as  a  sudden  and  irrational 
surrender  to  ideas  entirely  foreign  to  the  national 
character,  as  a  movement  which  must  end  in  national 
self-effacement.  It  is  now  abundantly  evident  that  it 
never  had  any  such  tendency,  but  was  from  the  start 
impelled  and  guided  by  a  lofty  and  far-seeing  patriot- 
ism. History  is  full  of  such  apparently  sudden 
changes ;  but  it  is  found  that  they  were  always  pre- 
269 


Sunrise  Stories 

ceded  by  long  periods  of  silent  preparation.  So  was 
it  with  Japan,  where  the  movement  toward  a  new 
order  of  things  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the 
Tokugawa  regime  itself. 

The  Japan  that  Bakin  knew  and  drew  so  well, 
feudal  Japan  in  kimono  and  hakama,  two-sworded, 
Chinese-lettered,  with  its  wealth  of  art  and  legend 
and  its  happy  ignorance,  protected  from  the  outer 
world,  as  by  a  thick  and  thorny  hedge,  by  the  Toku- 
gawa policy  of  non-intercourse,  lives  still  in  the  mem- 
ories of  many  who  witnessed  all  the  changes  that  cul- 
minated in  the  great  revolution  in  1868.  Brought  up 
in  a  southern  castle  town  (Saga  in  Hizen),  the  present 
writer,*  remembers  well  the  mediaeval  customs  then 
in  force.  Each  day,  awakened  by  the  noise  of  a  uni- 
versal clapping  of  hands — the  entire  population  of  the 
city  greeting  the  morning  sun — he  has  risen  to  an 
early  breakfast  of  tea  and  salt  prunes,  intended  more 
as  a  sort  of  sacrament  to  purify  the  soul  than  as  food 
to  nourish  the  body.  After  the  daily  hot  bath  and 
worship  at  the  household  shrine  of  Buddha  came  a 
more  substantial  meal  of  bean  soup,  boiled  rice,  and 
pickled  radishes ;  and  then  the  walk  to  school  through 
the  fields  and  gardens  of  the  walled  samurai  quarter, 
a  belt  of  cultivated  ground  and  scattered  dwellings 
drawn  close  about  the  castle,  and  itself  enclosed  on  all 

*  T.  Takayanagi. 
270 


Conclusion 

sides  by  the  multitudinous  roofs  of  the  city.  Each 
house  stood  in  its  own  rice-fields  and  vegetable-gar- 
dens, irrigated  by  channels  drawn  from  the  river, 
which  here  came  out  to  the  light  after  a  subterranean 
course  through  the  lower  town.  The  stream  circled 
through  the  castle  moat,  gay  in  summer  with  the  huge 
pink  blossoms  of  the  lotus,  and  passed  out  again  in 
darkness,  running  under  crowded  streets  and  close- 
packed  houses.  The  citizens  were  required  to  show 
their  wooden  pass-tickets  at  the  gates  before  they  were 
permitted  to  enter  the  castle  precincts. 

At  school  we  were  taught  to  read  and  write  Chinese 
as  well  as  Japanese  ;  and  on  cold  winter  nights,  in  a 
big  annex  to  the  school  building,  we  practised  fenc- 
ing with  bamboo  swords  and  wooden  spears,  and 
also  wrestling  in  the  Japanese  manner,  calculated  to 
give  strength  and  suppleness  to  every  portion  of  the 
body.  In  summer  we  had  games  of  polo,  and  were 
taught  to  shoot  with  bow  and  arrow  from  horseback. 
In  fact  we  were  trained  as  though  we  were  still  in  the 
Middle  Ages. 

On  summer  holidays  the  limits  of  our  excursions 
were  Kitayama  (North  Mountain)  on  the  north,  and 
Kawakami  (River  Head)  and  the  harbor  town  of 
Hayatsuye,  or  Morodomi,  some  three  miles  to  the 
east,  where  Prince  Nabeshima  kept  a  man-of-war. 
But  oftener  we  spent  the  day  in  fishing  for  eels  or 
271 


Sunrise  Stories 

clamming,  up  to  the  thighs  in  the  black  mud  of  the 
river  flats  at  low  tide.  Returning  at  night,  the  farm- 
ers' drums  and  gongs  resounding  from  far  and  near 
and  their  countless  lanterns  swaying  at  the  end  of 
long  bamboo  poles  as  they  paced  about  their  fields 
would  make  the  whole  country-side  seem  at  times  as 
though  it  were  held  by  an  armed  force ;  but  the  only 
warfare  that  was  waged  was  against  the  in6  mushi, 
the  rice  insect,  which,  if  not  thus  disturbed  and 
frightened,  would  devour  the  growing  crop.  Noth- 
ing could  really  be  more  peaceful  or  more  antiquated 
than  were  all  our  surroundings. 

Yet.  at  this  time,  the  revolutionary  sentiment  was 
coming  to  a  head  and  soon  there  was  to  be  real 
clashing  of  arms,  and  marching  and  countermarch- 
ing, and  bloody  battles. 

The  restrictions  imposed  by  the  Tokugawa  upon 
foreign  commerce  and  the  discussion  of  current  events 
had  had  among  other  results  that  of  turning  a  large 
share  of  the  mental  activity  of  the  time  into  anti- 
quarian channels.  The  literature  of  the  ancient  em- 
pire was  studied  and  annotated.  Scholars  like  Mo- 
toori  contrasted  the  simplicity  of  the  Shinto  rites  with 
the  corruptions  that  had  crept  into  later  Buddhist 
practice,  and  the  unity  and  strength  of  the  ancient 
imperial  organization  with  the  divisions  and  the 
weakness  of  the  feudal  system.  Thus  the  edicts  in- 
272 


Conclusion 

tended  to  prevent  the  very  possibility  of  a  public 
opinion  adverse  to  the  government  had  exactly  the 
opposite  effect,  and  there  grew  slowly  up  during  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  a  party  which, 
while  making  no  overt  sign  of  opposition,  exerted  a 
powerful  pressure  in  favor  of  the  court  at  Kioto  and 
correspondingly  weakened  the  authority  of  the  Yedo 
government.  Strangely  enough,  the  head  and  front 
of  this  movement  had  been  the  Prince  of  Mito,  the 
head  of  one  of  the  three  great  Tokugawa  families  en- 
titled to  share  in  the  succession  to  the  shogunate. 
In  the  beautiful  garden  of  his  castle,  now  the  public 
park  of  the  town,  the  stone  bench  is  shown  where, 
on  the  bank  of  a  small  ornamental  pond,  the  anti- 
quarian prince  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  and 
chatting  with  the  scholars  that  he  had  gathered  about 
him  to  aid  in  the  compilation  of  his  great  work,  the 
"Dai  Nihongi,"  a  huge  collection  of  biographies, 
still  the  chief  book  of  reference  for  the  history  of  the 
ancient  empire  and  the  Middle  Ages. 

His  son  and  successor  saw  further  reason  for  dislik- 
ing the  dual  system  of  government  in  the  failure  of 
the  authorities  at  Yedo  to  resist  the  foreign  demand 
that  the  country  be  thrown  open  to  commerce.  In 
a  memorial  to  the  shogun  he  pointed  out  that  the 
general  policy  of  the  European  powers  in  Asiatic 
countries  was  first  to  obtain  concessions  as  traders 
273 


Sunrise  Stories 

and  then  to  foment  disorder  and  conquer  the  country 
piecemeal.  He  reminded  the  government  of  Eng- 
land's opium  war  against  China,  of  the  disadvantages 
under  which  the  Japanese  would  have  to  enter  into 
competition  with  other  nations,  and  of  the  danger 
of  disappointing  the  samurai,  who  were  convinced  that 
if  there  must  be  a  war  with  the  foreigners,  it  had  bet- 
ter begin  at  once.  And  he  followed  up  his  memo- 
rial by  confiscating  the  bells  of  the  Buddhist  temples 
in  his  province  and  casting  them  into  cannon.  In 
fact,  both  Kioto  and  Yedo  were  crowded  with  samu- 
rai, some  of  whom  had  accompanied  their  lords,  who 
offered  their  services  to  repel  the  threatened  invasion, 
while  others  had  left  their  homes  singly  or  in  small 
groups,  and  had  journeyed  to  one  or  the  other  capital 
for  the  same  purpose. 

Some  of  these  last,  belonging  to  the  Mito  clan, 
soon  found  work  cut  out  for  them  that  was  much 
to  their  mind. 

The  leading  man  in  the  shogun's  government  was 
li  Kamon  no  Kami,  Daimio  of  Hikone".  He  had 
become  convinced  of  the  danger  of  longer  withstand- 
ing the  demands  of  England,  France,  and  the  United 
States,  and  set  about  putting  down  the  opposition  to 
his  policy  with  a  high  hand.  He  banished  Mito 
from  the  capital  and  made  him  prisoner  in  his  own 
castle.  For  this  he  was  set  upon  by  eighteen  ronin 
274 


Conclusion 

of  the  clan,  as  he  was  going  from  his  own  residence 
in  Yedo  to  the  shogun's  palace,  on  the  morning  of 
March  23,  1860.  His  guard  was  overpowered, 
he  was  dragged  from  his  palanquin  and  despatched, 
and  the  head  was  taken  to  Mito,  where  it  was  dis- 
played on  a  pike  over  the  castle  gate.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  attacks  on  the  foreign  embassies  by  other 
ronin,  by  the  murder  of  the  bully  Richardson  *  by  a 
Satsuma  man,  the  attempt  of  the  Prince  of  Choshu 
to  close  the  Straits  of  Shimonoseki,  and  by  the  bom- 
bardment of  that  place  by  English,  Dutch,  French, 
and  American  men-of-war,  and  of  Satsuma' s  capital, 
Kagoshima,  by  the  English.  The  destruction  of  Ka- 
goshima,  a  city  of  180,000  souls,  took  place  in  Au- 
gust ;  that  of  Choshu's  batteries  and  ships  at  Shimo- 
noseki in  September,  1863. 

These  actions  made  it  more  than  ever  apparent 
that  Japan  in  its  feudal  condition  could  not  cope 
with  nor  secure  justice  from  the  western  powers.  But 
the  clans  that  had  suffered  were  by  no  means  cowed. 
In  the  south,  owing  to  the  proximity  of  the  Dutch 
settlement  at  Nagasaki  (the  only  open  port  under  the 

*  Richardson  was  an  English  merchant  of  Shanghai  who,  visit- 
ing Japan  on  his  way  to  England,  insulted  the  Daimio  of  Satsuma 
by  forcing  his  way  through  the  latter's  guard,  one  of  whom  cut 
him  down.  He  had  been  warned  by  his  companions  that  the  act 
would  be  regarded  as  an  outrage,  but,  in  a  spirit  of  bravado, 
spurred  his  horse  into  the  ranks  of  the  procession. 
275 


Sunrise  Stories 

feudal  regime),  were  many  who  had  got  a  glimpse  of 
the  great  world  beyond  the  Tokugawa  hedge.  Long 
before  the  arrival  of  Commodore  Perry  or  the  bom- 
bardment of  Shimonoseki,  it  had  been  known  there 
that  Japan  was  far  behind  Europe  and  America  in 
the  sciences,  and  in  the  art  of  war.  The  result  of  the 
bombardments,  therefore,  was  that  the  southern  and 
western  clans  came  to  a  common  understanding  to 
effect  the  overthrow  of  the  shogunate  and  the  restora- 
tion of  the  empire ;  they  bought  new  ships  and  can- 
non, hired  foreign  military  instructors  and  sent 
abroad  parties  of  picked  students  to  report  on  the 
reforms  necessary  to  enable  Japan  to  hold  her  own 
against  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  the  writer,  then  twelve  years  old,  was  sent  from 
Saga  to  the  school  maintained  by  Prince  Nabeshima 
at  Nagasaki,  to  be  instructed  in  English. 

Rev.  Dr.  G.  F.  Verbeck,  the  first  American  mis- 
sionary in  Japan,  was  the  teacher,  and  it  may  fairly 
be  said  that  he  had  remarkable  success,  considering 
that  he  was  obliged  to  teach  English  through  the 
medium  of  Dutch,  there  being  then  no  English- 
Japanese  dictionary  or  grammar  in  existence.  We 
had  also  French  military  instructors,  and  it  was  our 
chief  delight  to  visit  at  houses  in  the  foreign  settle- 
ment that  were  opened  to  us,  and  the  foreign  men  of 
v/ar  in  the  bay.  To  the  old  dislike  of  foreign  things 
276 


Conclusion 

and  foreign  ways,  which  had  been  very  strong  even 
at  the  south,  had  succeeded  by  this  time  a  great  en- 
thusiasm, because  we  desired  (but  without  rancor)  to 
be  able  to  thrash  the  foreigners,  if  necessary,  in  our 
turn. 

Suddenly  the  older  boys  were  called  north,  and 
next  we  heard  of  battles  at  Kioto  and  at  Osaka,  in 
which  the  troops  of  the  southern  coalition,  though 
outnumbered  almost  ten  to  one,  had  beaten  those  of 
the  shogun's  party.  It  was  demonstrated  that  Jap- 
anese soldiers  could  profit  by  discipline  and  modern 
weapons. 

The  fight  was  now  no  longer  against  the  treaties, 
which  had  received  the  imperial  sanction  :  it  was  to 
unify  the  country  under  the  Emperor  Mutsuhito,  who 
had  just  succeeded  to  the  throne.  The  shogun,  lye- 
mochi,  had  died,  and  had  been  succeeded  by  the  son 
of  the  old  Prince  of  Mito,  Tokugawa  Yoshinobu. 
Imbued  as  the  latter  was  with  the  traditions  of  his 
race,  the  leaders  of  the  imperial  party  had  had  little 
difficulty  in  inducing  him  to  resign  all  his  powers 
into  the  hands  of  the  new  emperor.  But  his  parti- 
sans, who  by  this  act  were  themselves  deprived  of 
place  and  power,  had  precipitated  a  conflict.  They 
had  attempted  to  enter  Kioto  with  ten  thousand  men, 
but  had  been  repulsed  by  a  force  of  fifteen  hundred 
gathered  from  the  Satsuma,  Choshiu,  Tosa,  Hizen,  and 
277 


Sunrise  Stories 

other  imperialist  clans.  The  capture  of  Osaka  and 
Yedo  and  the  deposition  of  the  last  of  the  shoguns 
followed,  and  the  emperor  entered  Yedo,  henceforth 
known  as  Tokio,  in  November,  1869. 

By  that  time  I  was  a  student  in  the  university 
(then  called  Kaiseijo)  at  Tokio,  and  witnessed  the 
entrance  of  the  Mikado,  the  last  great  function  in  the 
ancient  manner,  with  daimios  in  black  lacquered  pa- 
lanquins, samurai  marching  afoot,  and  runners  at  the 
head  of  each  division  of  the  procession  tossing  from 
hand  to  hand  long  bamboo  poles  tipped  with  globu- 
lar masses  of  black  or  white  paper  ribbons.  There 
were  still  after  that  many  fluctuations  of  popular  sen- 
timent, which  did  not  come  over  all  at  once  to  the 
new  order  of  things ;  and  twice  we  students  were 
compelled,  to  avoid  provoking  unpleasant  remarks, 
to  resume  the  historic  samurai  dress,  hakama,  two 
swords,  and  top-knot.  But  in  the  same  year  came 
the  abolition  of  the  daimioates,  the  last  and  crown- 
ing act  of  the  revolution.  Feudal  Japan  was  no 
more. 

Nothing  can  be  farther  from  the  truth  than  the 
notion  that  the  revolution  was  the  consequence  of  the 
foreign  ministers'  demands.  Their  action  undoubt- 
edly had  the  effect,  wholly  unlocked  for  by  them,  of 
precipitating  a  crisis  which  was  sure  to  occur  in  any 
case.  The  country  required  to  be  more  closely 
278 


Conclusion 

united,  more  systematically  organized,  and  even  if  it 
had  remained  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  the 
feudal  organization  was  doomed.  Nor  should  the 
anxiety  of  the  Japanese  to  conform  to  modern  ways 
be  put  down  to  a  sudden  epidemic  of  imitativeness. 
It  was  due  to  the  desire  of  self-preservation.  The 
national  existence  was  felt  to  depend  on  Japan  being 
enabled  to  take  her  place  among  the  most  progressive 
people  of  the  earth.  Here,  indeed,  a  desire  to  fore- 
stall compulsion  was  active ;  but  not  in  the  restora- 
tion of  the  empire,  which  was  an  absolutely  sponta- 
neous act,  and  was  carried  out  against  the  desires  of 
the  European  ministers,  who  had  become  accustomed 
to  obtain  from  the  shogun's  government  whatever 
they  wanted,  and  were,  of  course,  desirous  that  it 
should  be  confirmed  in  power. 

One  who  knows  something  of  the  early  history  of 
the  country  can  in  a  measure  account  for  the  revo- 
lution and  for  the  startling  progress  subsequently 
made.  The  Japanese  first  appear  in  history  as  a 
proselytizing  and  conquering  people,  spreading  by 
force  of  arms  and  diplomacy  their  nascent  civilization 
and  anthropomorphic  creed  among  the  fetish-wor- 
shipping barbarians  of  the  main  island.  Later  we 
find  them  welcoming  the  mild  teachings  of  Buddha, 
and  incorporating  them  with  their  own  belief,  and 
with  renewed  zeal  pushing  the  frontiers  of  their 
279 


Sunrise  Stories 

empire  northward.  The  main  cause  of  the  long  and 
desolating  civil  wars  was  the  lack  of  an  apparent  out- 
let for  the  energies  of  the  righting  class,  and  of  an 
ideal  higher  than  fealty  to  clan  and  chief.  And  now 
that  Japan  is  once  more  provided  with  a  mission, 
and  is  called  upon  to  lead  in  the  civilization  of  the 
far  East,  we  see  revived  the  eagerness  to  learn  and  to 
teach,  the  unanimous  determination  to  advance,  that 
marked  the  palmy  days  of  the  ancient  empire. 

There  is  another  marked  characteristic  to  be  noted 
— a  tendency  to  go  lightly  laden  and  to  throw  off 
and  reject  whatever  is  found  to  be  unassimilable.  In 
Japanese  literature  and  art  this  trait  is  more  marked 
than  any  other.  There  is  much  in  both  that  has 
been  unquestionably  borrowed  from  the  Chinese,  but 
it  has  been  sublimated  and  spiritualized,  has  been 
freed  of  Chinese  sensuousness  and  of  Chinese  didac- 
ticism. 

In  more  practical  matters  we  have  seen  how  the 
militant  sects,  both  Christian  and  Buddhist,  were  put 
down  when  it  became  plain  that  they  but  tended  to 
add  to  the  turmoil  from  which  the  country  was  suf- 
fering; and  in  our  own  days  the  feudal  edifice  of 
lyeyasu,  become  a  hindrance,  has  been  completely 
swept  away.  But  the  military  skill  and  endurance 
acquired  during  centuries  of  warfare,  the  altruistic 
spirit  and  the  love  of  nature  fostered  by  Buddhism, 
280 


Conclusion 

remain,  along  with  the  original  endowment  of  the 
race,  its  courage,  loyalty,  its  love  of  light  and  puri- 
ty, its  belief  in  its  high  mission. 

A  readiness  to  take  the  higher  way  and  to  show  it 
to  others,  and  a  proneness  to  relieve  the  springs  of 
action,  thought,  and  feeling  of  all  unnecessary  weight, 
are  the  leading  characteristics  of  the  Japanese,  as 
shown  both  in  their  literature  and  in  their  history. 
It  is  not  without  reason  that  Japan  x  has  adopted  the 
morning  sun,  the  source  of  light  and  standard  of  pu- 
rity, for  the  emblem  upon  her  banners.  It  is  not 
quite  the  fact  that  "  Japanese  civilization  is  based 
upon  altruism,"  as  a  recent  traveller,  Mr.  Henry  T. 
Finck,  has  put  it ;  but  it  comes  perhaps  as  near  to 
that  ideal  condition  as  is  possible  in  this  imperfect 
world. 


281 


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